I have five sonnets (a whole page!) in the new issue of the American Poetry Review, available at a newsstands and Borders/B&N near you. Sharon Olds and W.S. Merwin also have new poems in the issue. Below is one of my poems from the issue.

Prophetic Outlook
by Ernest Hilbert

Crooks run the whole world, and the Dow just fell.
Crap rules the airwaves. All your best plans stall.
The air is dirty, and you don’t feel well.
Your wife won’t listen. Friends no longer call.
Sad songs from youth no longer cast a spell.
Cancer research has run into a wall.
Some inflated hack just won the Nobel.
You witness clear signs of decline and fall.
The neighbors are cold, and your house won’t sell.
Your cat has bad teeth. Your paychecks feel small.
Maybe you’re really sick. It’s hard to tell.
Up ahead, traffic has slowed to a crawl.
The world didn’t just start going to hell.
You just noticed for the first time, that’s all.