LatinosUSA

In response to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol (2021)

Thrust down with a fumbling hand

in the light of the slumberous moon

crashing into the crater in my chest

all that pain of after death, the broken glass,

the splintering cries of those who gather 

by the gate & wonder where to go & who 

to see & ask if there’s a place for their guns

or something organic to eat.

Why cast onto me

this surreal art of disharmony:

jumbling discordant shards,

the jagged insurrections of clouds, 

& murders by crowds & those who rage, 

their fire snuffed out by wet whimpers. 

They drown in grief. Why pursue me

as though I could decode this absurd 

collage, take on the lake-effect breeze

of a dense fog that steeps in a mind 

that cannot sleep, much less dream 

of rainbowed gardens.

Why seek me to recast their shattered 

sorrow, scattered chaotic clutter, their 

Felliniesque costumes?

I don’t know the half of it.

First appeared in Well Versed 2021 and more recently The Lost book of Zeroth

Bio:

Barbara Leonhard is the author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (2022) and The Lost Book of Zeroth (2025). She is co-author of Too Much Fun to Be Legal (2024) and Broken Rengay: Unruly Poetry (2025). Barbara’s poetry has received honors from Well-Versed 2021 and Spillwords Press. She’s a nominee for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Trending Poets named her Poet of the Year in 2023 and 2024. Her poetry has been translated into Italian, Albanian, and Chinese. She is the Editor for MasticadoresUSA and co-editor for Bookshelf on LatinosUSA. She created a journal, FEED THE HOLY. Her blog: Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver.