Kali Ate the New Age

some of them were anticipating
the coming of the Age of Aquarius
with peace signs and tie dyes
acid trips, Hendrix
an unfolding human consciousness

I was the product of two ships
that gasped in the night
in a car or at a concert
at a friend's apartment
a brief allotment of time
for free love

I tracked down my mother's brother when I was 21
detective work turned up his yearbook
when my letter arrived. my aunt implored him to call his sister
let her know that her lunatic bastard child
had found his way home

but Kali ate the New Age
aglow with fierce compassion
she knew we'd need more
than salvation in some quick fix --
crystals, hot yoga, chakra balancing
the archetypal mother's arms

the turning of our Collective Heart
would require something closer to the bone --
pestilence, despair, outrage
the death maw of electronic newspaper in lap
joined hands, an oasis of tears, knit pussy caps