We’re back here again, caught
in this endless kírkos of blame.
Who owes whom? How much?
Until when?

Even if we forgive each other’s
old debts, another roomful
waits for the chance to come
face to face with its creator.

Karma, your currency’s no good
here; it’s our faith that’s in mortal
danger. What’s the sum
of our deficits and saving
graces? The chips are down

and the wheel keeps spinning.
Only the banker knows what
change to make and the back
door to the house where all
bets come.

Note: “Judgment Day” is featured in the Fall 2008 issue of Reed Magazine.

by Evelyn A. So
Copyright 2008

How dare you dance!
scolded Lucy. Don’t you know
there are problems in this world?
How’s dancing going to solve them?

And Linus might have said:
for everything there is a season—
a time to cry, a time to dance!

But he and Snoopy laugh themselves silly,
spinning arm in arm and singing.
And along comes Woodstock
and Sally and Charlie Brown
and Schroeder and Peppermint Patty and Marcie,
even Lucy and the girl with naturally curly hair
kick up their heels.

As one beagle might
bang on the typewriter
— the world’s full of possibility
for those who greet it
with open arms. Even Lucy agrees
when she takes the doctor’s seat.
Five cents please.

Note: “Homage to Charles M. Schulz” is featured in Reed Magazine’s new website, http://www.reedmag.org.

The above poem is an ekphrastic poem that Evelyn was inspired to write while studying ekphrastic poetry (poetry about other art forms) in the spring of 2007.