The Talarico sign in my front yard

Herman Sutter

August 2, 2026

brings the gift of my neighbor’s concern

across the street

bearing him upright

to tell me face-to-face

of the foolishness 

of my choice

There are only two

genders, he says

Adam and Eve, he says

not Adam and Steve

and chuckles softly

and though he does acknowledge

the corruption of Ken Paxton

he feels compelled 

to keep talking

about gender and Democrats

and the border

and Biden’s incompetence and how 

even the Kennedys were not

the angels they’re made out

and extending his hand

he adds, At least

Trump stands up for something

even if it’s only himself

And shaking his head, he turns

Only two, he says again 

with a sigh, and his gift

is gone

Herman Sutter (award-winning poet/playwright/essayist) is the author of two chapbooks: Stations (Wiseblood Books) and The World Before Grace (Wings Press), as well as “The Sorrowful Mystery of Racism,” St. Anthony Messenger. His work appears in: The Perch, The Ekphrastic Review, The Langdon Review, Touchstone, The Merton Journal, as well as: Texas Poetry Calendar (2021) & By the Light of a Neon Moon (Madville Press, 2019). His recent manuscript A Theology of Need was long-listed for the Sexton prize.