after David Graeber

In the time of plague we turned away
from the relentless chirp of workplaywork
and placed our ears against the door, listening
for footsteps approaching down the hallway
outside the locked room of capitalism.
In the shrinking of our circle was a new rhythm,
melodies we weren’t sure how to sing
drifting through the walls in snatches.
With nowhere to go, we labored daily
to stamp our plot of earth with food
and flowers.
                     We can make the world
however we’d like, it’s that simple.
It’s that simple. It’s that hard to learn.

Timothy Otte is the author of the chapbook Rebound, Restart, Renew, Rebuild, Rejoice (Lithic
Press, 2019). He is a mentor with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop and currently works
at a bookstore. Otte writes a monthly newsletter called Stanza Break, which focuses on poetry in
translation and books outside of a publicity cycle. Otte lives in Minneapolis, but keeps a home on
the internet: www.timothyotte.com. Say their last name like body.