She longed for the days when
June Cleaver delivered moral lessons
to Beaver
when she wasn’t doing her needlepoint.

She knew that shopping was good for the economy
even though she didn’t like
the way her husband
paid attention
to some of the new car
advertisements
with scantily dressed women.

She longed for the days when
the economy was strong
and the only threat
was the Godless Communists.

Now, it seemed, everything was Godless.

It was so much easier when
White boys in the suburbs would be boys
and
Black boys in the cities would be thugs,
and the girls who got in trouble
got what they deserved
and didn’t get abortions.

Now, it’s all mixed up
“Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls.”
and the President is black.

It was so much easier when
you could simply tell right from wrong.

Now, people are telling her
that she’s supposed to care
for people different from her.
What if someone
found her darkest secrets?

That’s not even safe,
is it?