MINUS 34

Thirty four is not

Equal

To fifty-one-point-eight-million

It is not me

Nor you

It was them

The thirty-four from the headline

That are late.

Thirty four plus

Two parents each

Plus a spouse and siblings

And an average

Of two-point-four-two

Minors

And suddenly thirty four

Is equal to more than a few hundred.

Thirty four miners

Buried underground

Beneath the deceit

And piled-up profits

That pays the executioner

And buys the lies

As state-sanctioned murder

Is normalized.

Minus thirty four

A democratic massacre

More blood on the balance sheet

Of the corporation slave master

Brutal bastards who lurk

Behind manicured smiles

And doctored public profiles

That will never stand trial.