EVERY TEAR A MINUS Poem by Ramsey Nasr

the flowers used to know exactly
when and where young germans
with deeply wounded hearts
would appear in the bushes

pistils and all they homed in on them

by evening one heard
the sobbing crocuses and narcissi
even above the sound of the german
who'd come so far he was now trying
to dissuade some i'll end it all bluebell

consolation was a way of life back then

the nighting-gull dropped by later too
no secrets in the woods those days
heavy hearts just pissed it off
it pealed those cheerful tones
sick bush turned gleaming thicket
a constant switching on and off
flashing blackberries and raspberries

the bush with the german
was now an enticing mini universe
come come cosmos
the stars stayed put
so far away so vast and all
but eight minutes later it came
full-blast from space
red-hot chunks of solace

and every day the same

nowadays you hawk your reject heart
door to door and no one's buying

germans are suddenly suspect
in this grey cankered city

for love freddy wonderlick
had already diluted imagery
but now he knew for sure
every tear is a minus