2 poems by Bruce McRae

Beholden

The tale of the princess
so beautiful we had to look away.
We had to burn our clothes.
We fasted. We sacrificed a chicken.

So beautiful we had to wash
our eyes, our feet, our hair.
The bravest warriors cowered.
Wolves howled. Priests trembled.

Her incomparable beauty was such
stars refused to light our path.
The sun kissed sweetest summer.
The blooming rose forsook the nettle.

Breaking News

In today's news,
a completely fabricated story.
A false light.
All sorts of imagined disasters.

In today's news,
a cock-and-bull report
and sensational weather.
A newscaster weeping
over misplaced affiliations.
Poppycock and bullroar.
A twisted agenda,
in concordance with our owner's wishes.

This just in –
someone we don't care for
said something other
than what we like to think
or want to know or hear.

More on this later, 
but first, our utter contempt.
Our insipid drivel.


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Bruce McRae, a Canadian musician and multiple Pushcart nominee, had had works appear in hundreds of publications around the world. The winner of the 2020 Libretto Chapbook Prize (20 Sonnets), his books include ‘The So-Called Sonnets’; ‘An Unbecoming Fit Of Frenzy’; ‘Like As If’; ‘All Right Already’ and ‘Hearsay’.