Guilty By Association

Every interview
as tornado survivors sing Jesus loves me
by the coffins of their children

Every zealot
eating the heart
of another zealot

Everyone
raped, mutilated, murdered
by teenage rebels and military madmen

leaves me adrift dragging against
the planet's boggy bottom
without traction

the origin of the species
the big bang
the human genome
the blackest of holes
and still adrift

resigned to some remote connection
to accept punishment
guilty by association