by Andrew Manzoni, Elections Correspondent

The ballot came in the mail, last week.
Election Day, it is on the way.
What did you say?
We’ve got to vote.
We’ve got to vote.
Don’t forget to vote.

Wrapped up, are we, in vacuous reality T.V.
We’re awash in celebrities hawking cheap makeup on Instagram.
More rap videos. HERE IT GOES.
Watch them twerking on [rented] Lambos—
shake-shake-shaking what their mothers gave them
(or their cut-rate plastic surgeons).

Video woes. Lose track of time. Lose track of the vote.
ALL NEW. WATCH THIS: confused adolescent backyard wrestles by himself—
flying elbow drop off the top rope.
he leaps onto a table covered in broken glass & thumb tacks.
One’s attention can lapse REAL FAST.

Watching. Watching. Forgetting…
Realizing you didn’t remember what day it was.
Leaving the ballot, unopened, amidst the junk mail.
Take care to be mindful, decisive.
Our future depends on it.

Don’t forget to vote.
Don’t forget to vote.
Wield your ballot. Fill those empty circles with a fiery fervor.
Deliver it to the post office box.
And don’t get lost on the way.

Alexander Manzoni brings his witful eye and audacious spirit to Headline Poetry.  To read more of his work, visit his HP’s Elections Column.