by Tony Schanuel
Narcissus
Styrofoam cups, a plastic 7-Up bottle, a beer can
And red and gold and orange autumn leaves
Roll along the highway’s shoulder
Gaily tossed by gusts of wind
What would fall be without Americans
Tossing their detritus out car windows
A child’s canvass shoe here
And there a crumpled slipper
Baby’s diaper bye-bye
Schnuck’s plastic be gone, Aldi’s “Shop different”
A highway is another word for landfill until
We run out of room and bomb the mountains
America, once beautiful, once verdant
Now a trash flash mob throwaway
Now McDonalds Burger King Taco Bell
Jingle all the way
Give me leaf trash, bits of broken bark
Stream-split granite shards and sandblown glass
Shriveled iris petals and worm casings
And shed blue racer snake skins
The sponges of Eden did not write
About the trees the seas the leaves the serene breeze
They lived and soaked up sun and water
And saltily brushed the first oral
And then Man came along and wrote and wrote
Epics word songs and poems jazz birds and bees
And then Narcissus saw himself in the water’s mirror
And threw the first Kleenex into the stream
Eugene Jones Baldwin is a playwright, journalist, poet, and Illinois Underground Railroad historian. Gene’s book, There is No Color in Justice, about the civil rights struggles of the fifties, was published in November. His essays have been featured in the Yale Climate Change Project and local newspapers. His latest short story, “Catbelly Heat on My Knees,” was published in Jerry Jazz Magazine.
Tony Schanuel is an award-winning photographer and visual artist who has fused a professional background in photography, digital technology, painting and mark making to create fine art that transcends those mediums. His work has been featured in Digital Imaging Magazine, Computer Graphic Magazine, Wild Heart Journal, St. Louis Design Magazine, and is a featured artist in Cyber Palette and Extreme Graphics, two books showcasing digital artists and their work. He has exhibited at the Florence Biennale and his art is held in private and corporate collections including the Fine Arts Museum of Houston permanent photographic collection. http://www.schanuelphoto.com.