Like Falling Rain
When evil-doing comes like falling rain, nobody calls out ‘stop!—Bertolt Brecht
“Don’t start with the good old things,
but the bad new ones,”
he said in my dream last night.
So, here’s to Amazon warehouses,
banks foreclosing our neighbors,
to poets writing grant proposals, and
congress collecting unearned pay.
To killer drones from outer space,
to Karoline Leavitt’s lyin’ eyes—
dollar signs shine in expectation
of upcoming tell all book deal.
To factories reopened as condos,
same smokestacks, new rooftop bars,
to the War Department’s illegal strikes,
brought to you by the same folks
who think “What could ever go wrong?”
Mother Courage reminds us
that profit comes at a cost:
“And in our graves, we shall find peace
unless the war goes on in Hell.”
Maybe the show goes on in the grocery
store line, where the self-checkout counters
silently judge our scruples or lack thereof,
in the landlord’s texts, sent from a yacht
named Mar a Lago.
Bertolt, you’d laugh at us,
at our irony so thick it’s tragic.
“Show the audience the strings,
but make them dance anyway.”
The show must go on—
in the eyes of the security guard
posted in front of the synagogue,
wondering if he too is part
of the performance,
in the tired faces of teenagers
staring at overworked screens
anxiously awaiting whatever
Act Two might have in store—
probably audience participation, and
no one looks forward to that day.
Last year (2025) was a busy year for Danny Shot with two books published: a collection of poems, The Jersey Slide in November by CavanKerry Press and his prose, collected in Night Bird Flying in February by Roadside Press. 2026 finds Danny marching in the streets and channeling Bertolt Brecht on the page. WORKS was published in 2018 by CavanKerry Press. Danny is Poet in Residence at the Hoboken Museum. Danny Shot was the longtime publisher
and editor of Long Shot arts and literary magazine, which he founded along with Eliot Katz in 1982 in New Brunswick, NJ. More information can be found on his website: dannyshot.com
