I took my ten year old Honda in for service
feeling virtuous
thinking perhaps an oil change
and maybe tire rotation
a young man with Craig spiraled on his shirt
and snake tattoos curling up his arms
looks flustered
new transmission, new brake pads,
replace a head gasket, shocks, struts
whatever the hell they are
I tune out the droning list
should I repair or cut my losses
and shell out $22,000 I don’t have
to buy another car I can’t afford
The dilemma of our weary-had-enough-of-it-all world
is it reparable with all the droughts and fires,
the fallow fields, the smoky air, the guns,
the incessant greed, the guns, the guns,
the wars, the greed, the hungry children
with swollen bellies, grain rotting in Ukraine,
the ten year old forced to bear a rapist’s child,
the racism, the guns, the greed, the trans woman
denied the women’s room, books banned
for teaching children about their bodies
is it worth investing in, is there any chance
or should we let it go and start again
like buying a new Honda Civic
but not so easy if there is no one left
