L. ACADIA

Invasion News

Another war began today,
I tell my love.

She’s skeptical;
I’ve been recounting my dreams.

I cannot place it?
Glimpsed
in frenetic scrolling while
waiting in line at the store, or
eye-dropping over
another commuter’s shoulder on the metro
perhaps.

Which former Soviet countries
are involved?
I resolve
to find out,
Googling: “invades”
Tab: [news].

The first headline warns of
Xi Jingping’s plans to invade
us in 5 years,
as though foretelling
rather than forecasting,
or rather
perpetuating the posturing
of an autocrat
before a sham election.

Other headlines tell of
crocodiles invading Brazilian beaches,
rabbit-sized rats invading Scottish homes, and
sex-crazed spiders invading England,
leading me to suspect
it may have been
a dream, until
results [page 8] includes:
Tajikistan invades Kyrgyzstan,
apparently less newsworthy
than bestiocracy.