No Surprises Here
— a poem by Dennis Wilken

Ironically, this emblem of striving privilege
Who showed no compassion for anyone
Without the power to reward her grasping,
Died in bed at the Ritz,
Leaving the television talking heads here and in Britain
To play appalled because activists in Scotland and points south,
And her victims, the old and the weak
Celebrated her passing by dancing in the streets,
Probably wishing in their heart of hearts
They could step on her very corpse
And not just the placards featuring  her thin unforgiving face
That were finally underfoot
.

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Dennis Paul Wilken is a prolific poet, sketch-artist, veteran journalist and Literary Editor for The Commonline Journal. He studied at the University of Cincinnati and is a former Editor of Cincinnati Magazine. His poem "Outcomes" was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2011. His last chapbook is called Sweat Off the Diamond (2009).