Who do you cry for?
The heroes, the antichrist; the mourners, the mourned
The protester, the protested; the detainee, the detested
The black, the barren bleak; the white, the withered weak
The merciful, the merciless; the looters, the looted
The opiated, the satiated; the compromisers, the compromised
Swimmers in a river of tears; drowners in a river of blood
The royal blues, the bloodied reds; the violent, the violated
Front line workers, alleyway lurkers; the rhymers, the connivers
Harbingers of spring, malingerers headed for a fall
The Hippocratic oath taker, the hypocrite oath breaker
Bad actors, redactors; doctors of spin, directors of sin
The liar, the led; the masked, the master
The angel, the avenger; the demonic, the deterred
The judge, the judged; the interrupted, the interred
The devoted, the demoted; the wage earners, the rage burners
The fertile, the futile; the ablated, the aborted
The outside agitators, the agitated insiders
The electorate, the protectorate; journalistas, buenavistas
Follower of science, breaker of alliance
The riot-geared, the riot-seared; the peaceniks, the beatniks
The rightful indigenous, the righteously indignant
The conductor, the condensed; the composer, the decomposing
The upwardly mobile, the downtrodden; bread bakers, bread liners
Tear-stained, tear-gassed; the executives, the executioners
DONA NOBIS PACEM

Barbara Ann Branca has read original works from her chapbook FLASH FLOOD on National Public Radio and at venues throughout New York City and Long Island. Her work has been lauded at the Southampton Writers Conference and appears in numerous anthologies. She is a former university communications director and a lifelong science educator with a passion for music and the environment.