First Place – 2025 Beverly Hopkins Contest for High School Students

“This poem relies on the litany very well in its offering of both the horrific and the mundane. At no time are the lines predictable; the poem keeps my attention throughout. Its thesis reminds me of Kaminskly’s ‘We Lived Happily During the War’.”

Niki Herd, 2025 Hopkins Contest Judge

Meanwhile on Earth

by SCARLET BROTHERS
Nerinx Hall High School

Meanwhile the world is ending.
Meanwhile the neighbor's dog is barking again.
     I’m sleeping.
          I’m wide awake.
     The dog is barking again.
Meanwhile fading barn roofs cave in.
     We’re on the way from somewhere to somewhere.
          Here’s nowhere.
               Here’s the barn that was once red.
          Something about this is interesting but we can’t decide what.
Meanwhile dirty dishes pile in the sink.
     Meanwhile somebody is starving.
     Meanwhile I buy another box of popsicles.
Meanwhile things with long chemical names are detonating
     And drywall is crumbling,
     Which is to say that
          Meanwhile men in military caps are sending bombs to hospitals,
     Meanwhile we watch it all on our phones.
Meanwhile the homeless shelters are scrambling.
     People are drowning in snow.
          Tent flaps sway vacant.
Meanwhile I wake up in my own bed.
     Meanwhile another plane explodes.
          Meanwhile I brush my teeth.
               Meanwhile democracy loses meaning
               So slow we hardly even notice.
          All the news is breaking.
     We’re gaping in horror at our inboxes
Meanwhile another parent gets deported.
     Meanwhile the sun rises.
          Orange on the horizon,
          Mourning doves call.
     Meanwhile we don’t even notice.
Meanwhile we become angry dogs snarling into each other’s eyes.
     Froth dripping onto the pavement.
          Meanwhile another deer walks into your front bumper.
     Meanwhile I brush my teeth.
     All this ends in blood.
Meanwhile the country whispers fascism under its breath.
     The world turns up a notch.
          The ocean sloshes up over Venice.
Here is the basilica.
     Here are the rice flats.
          Here are the walls of America and they are peeling white paint.
Meanwhile the neighbor’s dog is barking again.
     I’m sleeping.
          I’m wide awake.
     The dog is barking again.
Meanwhile we’re living,
     We’re living,
                                                  Meanwhile we’re living.