the incremental decline of civilization

they razed an acre of woods
by my parents’ house
and planted a DMV.

a forest is considered vacant land
because natural systems tend
from a state of order to disorder
and government buildings.

they tore down the DMV
by my parents’ house
and built a sheriff’s office.

rome fell so slowly
that visigoths in spain were calling
themselves citizens
for centuries after their ancestors
sacked the city.

TC Kody lives in Orlando. Their work has been published in Dream Pop, Voicemail Poems, Button Poetry, Rising Phoenix Review, and many others. They have yelled and yawped all over the United States. A Best of the Net Nominee, TC won the first Poetry Slam Incorporated Online Slam and is the uneditor of Rejected Lit. Yes, they would like a hug.