The Last Normal Day

The summertime Santa

On his dog a bandana

Patterned with reindeer

They made a good team

He would sit with his legs crossed

Beside the old kiosk

People gave him their quarters

After buying ice cream

The sun on the mountains

The pigeons in fountains

The gulls in the garbage

Just doing their thing

The kids in the courtyard

Burning their report cards

I remember the chorus

Of the song they would sing

It was the end of the internet

And the things people make

Back when we didn’t quite get it yet

On the last normal day

Making dollar store coffee

Brains fuzzy and foggy

The glare of the sunrise

Set fire to our screens

Watching things get destroyed, a

Brand new schadenfreude

Crept into our conversations

And our dreams

At first entertaining

Like the Monkey Christ painting

Then far more alarming

Than a new Jesus face

Like watching a model

Ship sink in a bottle

It’s just like an earthquake

Seen from outer space

It was the end of the internet

And the things people make

Back when we didn’t quite get it yet

On the last normal day

Not everybody gets a raft or boat, ask Jack and Rose

Let’s rearrange these deck chairs before we go