Second Coming No. 496 — May 30, 2026
A poem-a-day protest against the threat posed to our democracy by Donald Trump and his fascist regime
Judith A. Skillman
WW III
On the espalier
the Rose of Sharon,
cursed by beauty.
Emblem of Syria,
ragged bush my father loved,
come back hardy
after almost dying.
Don’t leave yet.
The soul’s in the inn
of the dying body.
Gas lights the sky.
Judith Skillman is the author of more than twenty full-length poetry collections, including Oppression (Shanti Arts, 2026). Her poems have appeared in Cold Signal, Bracken Magazine, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Poetry Catalog, Cimarron Review, and other journals. With Linera Lucas, Skillman co-edited the volume When Home Is Not Safe: Writings on Domestic Verbal, Emotional and Physical Abuse (Exposit Books, 2021).
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Loved this. A wide scope anchored in specifics.