“The statistics were/like our scores—and we wanted/to lead the boards…”
“Third Wave”
I.
We started to treat
it as we did aliens
on the game console—
unreal entities to be
taunted and harangued in jest.
II.
The statistics were
like our scores—and we wanted
to lead the boards, which
we did with unabashed
infamy and inapt pride.
III.
But the true tale was
more akin to Card’s tragic
Ender’s Game, as the
lives lost were real, with the dead
in refrigerated trucks.
Living in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, Michele Mekel wears many hats of her choosing: writer and editor; educator and bioethicist; poetess and creatrix; cat herder and chief can opener; witch and woman; and, above all, human. Her work has appeared in various academic and creative publications and was featured on Garrison Keillor’s podcast, “The Writer’s Almanac.” Michele can be found on Instagram @ShaktiEnergy
