I’ve done some: a little extra 
food and toilet paper socked away,
and cash in case cards won’t work. 

Better is the idea of cultivating 
being a neighbor—pitching in 
for the broken or the broke. 

She knows first aid. They raise bees. 
He is an expert at cultivating  
beans, greens, and fruit in the yard.

Of course I’ve considered guns, what 
country do you think I’m from? But bullets 
go only one way—no going back. Better

is the suggestion to pay attention 
to right now, the handbasket, and make it 
artful, sweet, and inviting all the way to hell.

---

Matthew Murrey is the author of Bulletproof (Jacar Press, 2019) and the forthcoming collection, Little Joy (Cornerstone Press, 2026). Recent poems are in One, Anthropocene, Whale Road Review, and elsewhere. He was a public school librarian for more than 20 years, and lives in Urbana, IL with his partner.