Poet with a Press Pass

ESCALATION

There is always more
to consider than you
first think—

I read this meme as self-help
and know, judging
from my misadventures,
it is true that there is
inevitably more trouble,
extra complication,
and, these days, deeper evil.

The boys who threw paper
airplanes into girls’ long hair
are the same ones who fly
drones into poet friends' apartments
then guide sorties to kill peace talks,
leading me to imagine a squadron
dropping not Amazon packages
on doorsteps but mass destruction.

Anguished by a new Department of War,
I watch the horizon, listen to podcasts,
and study the faces of strangers
afraid of how much worse things can get.

All signs point in the same direction—
these days, the sky’s the limit.

by Anne McCrady, 2025

Friends,

How are your feeling these days?
What about our world worries you most?
What are you doing to feel peace and share peace?

Anne