I read somewhere that Adam Sandler
makes movies just so he can hang out
with his friends in cool places
and have some fun for a month
and I think about this
as I watch Hubie Halloween
a couple of weeks before Election Day
wondering where all my friends are tonight
I check my phone, I scour social media
some are ghosts, but some are still fighting
going door-to-door in Pennsylvania
or rallying in Georgia and here I am
on the verge of angry tears
because of how Adam Sandler
makes his movies
because in reality
there are no cool places to hang out anymore
no vacations to take, just this desire
to push back the red
and my friends still fighting
don’t take any days off
they’re always sailing at maximum speed
across oceans of subtweets and broken glass
collecting whatever hope is still left
they’re happening right now
across every newsfeed
running toward monsters
straight into labyrinths of bad energy
we’ve arrived someplace very scary
but my friends still fighting
refuse to stop singing songs
about trees becoming forests
even though their roots are gone
and I think about this
as I watch Hubie Halloween
how Hubie is bullied by almost the entire city of Salem
yet he perseveres through the abuse
and saves the day at the end
he even becomes mayor
suggesting that real change is possible
as the credits roll, I don’t know
what I’m crying about anymore
eventually I start imagining
what the end of America will look like
maybe a permanent vacation from tyrants
maybe the horizon with no streaks of recession
maybe more of the truth
maybe no more bullies
my friends still fighting
vandalizing the remains of Air Force One
with sharpened toothpicks
my friends still fighting
replacing rusted flagpoles in every state
with magical broomsticks
and Adam Sander’s there too
leading an irreverent parade through city streets
littered with monster bones and overturned cars
because the war has been won
and hopefully by then
I won’t be so goddamn depressed, what a waste
I’m turning into
Kristin Garth & Pink Plastic House a tiny journal 