Bono-nucleosis

I’ve got a fever

and the only prescription

is not

more cowbells

but 

three chords

and the truth.

I frequently have dreams

of standing on a stage

inside a large stadium

of screaming fans

hanging on my every word

because it’s what they’ve come to hear,

it’s what they expect of me

and

I do not disappoint

I can not disappoint.

From these dreams,

I frequently awake

in a cold sweat

knowing what’s required of me

knowing what’s required

of anyone

whose modus operandi

is speaking truth

to power;

making art

out of truth;

making it sing

making it dance.

This is my balm

this is my medicine

this is also

what will help me 

to heal the world.

© 2016 Joseph Powell