Election Year Dream
Interfaith banquet
mainline Protestant church
listening to strangers discuss
over dinner rolls and butter
distressing things they heard on NPR
about the big crackdown
experts worried about civil rights
someone mentions how nice it is
to be out in public after
most recent lockdown
when the man on my left starts coughing
everyone’s eyes water over
before we hear the military copters above
run to the window just in time to see
the pastor executed by the police
tie a dinner napkin over my nose and mouth
encourage everyone to do the same
as more gas canisters get dropped in vents
smash open a window to get outside
my wife and I crawl across the lawn
children crawling into the sewers to hide
under the sound of gunfire
wake up as I’m screaming
I don’t want to die like this
like I have a choice
Matthew Ussia is director of Duquesne University’s First Year Writing Program in spite of the fact that he got a C- in freshman writing and was rejected from Duquesne’s MA program. He is also an editor, scholar, podcaster, post-doom thereminist, and softcore punk. His first book, The Red Glass Cat, was published by Alien Buddha Press in 2021. His second book, Saturday Night on Earth, was published by Alien Buddha Press in 2025. www.matthewussia.com.
