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Bitter Tea Still

by Joe Glaser  

It was a harsh policy
but bold inaction was needed
to build the new China.

And for 33 long years
they allowed just one child
wall posters relentlessly lauding
the glories of onliness.

Consequences slowly piling up
they thought they'd better allow some twos
but only to those who had been ones
and soon found most ones just wouldn’t do twos.

So now they say two for all and all for two
hoping this new edict will finally do.

Alas   over time
the edict of one has reshaped desire
and traditionally horizontal family groups
have gone vertical
dark loneliness
replaced by
joyous onliness
 - coddling
 - spotlighting
 - independence
and income income income.

Alas   again
the population is seriously skewed
with too many men
and too few women
and too few workers
and too many oldsters.

And there are no easy answers.

 



By Joe Glaser

Joseph ("Joe") Glaser, originally educated in science and technology, spent most of his career in computer-related activities. In retirement, he immersed himself in liberal arts and began writing poetry in 2008. Some of his poems have appeared in The Journal, published by Northwestern University's OLLI program, the online journal Front Porch Review, the online Decades Review, the online Muses’ Gallery of Highland Park Poetry, the published Journal of Modern Poetry (JOMP-16 best modern poem prize), and Distilled Voices published by the Illinois State Poetry Society. Joe is also a candid photographer, especially when traveling, and his photos have been published in some of the same media as his poems. His e-mail address: