The Scammers

 The Scammers

seem to be out in force today.

PayPal helpfully details the kinds 

of assistance I’ll need to deal with them

and the sorts of questions I should ask—

but the anxiety I feel closing in on me

is already too great to allow me to sustain 

any viable inquiry—now that the world is

populated with iniquitous malefactors only.

They’ll soon have emptied my bank account,

and when I leave for church on Sunday, they’ll

pull the van right up to my condo, clear out

every carpet and chair, lift all the paintings 

right off the walls, pack up every pot and pan 

from my kitchen, empty my closets, no jeans

not a hanger left—  How cold and lonely 

the world seems now that the scammers rule!

—Sefpoem, 3/3/2025