Eleven Weeks

(The Smell of Pancakes)

The fog seemed to lift early this morning

making way for a relaxed sun 

and a cool gentle breeze

that could barely raise enough energy 

to make the tree tops move

and somewhere from our apartment building

someone was cooking pancakes 

which gave the day a sweetness 

that had felt missing 

for quite a while.

The news showed people in large crowds 

dancing, parading, cheering in celebration

in relief knowing that someone else

someone new

would now try to make right

what the last person

could only make worse

while the losing side

as is now to be expected

could only manufacture complaints

of corruption, malfeasance 

and suspicious results which

reminded us that our divide 

still needed great repair and

would not disappear

overnight

and even though I could share 

in the relief of seeing 

a new start on the horizon

I couldn’t keep from wondering

after all the trials this year had laid before us

how many more challenges

for ourselves and our democracy

would we have to endure

over the next eleven weeks

before we could start again.

November 7, 2020

Ken Owen    Van Niddy Press