put up the new free calendar

who buys calendars anymore
the flood starts in October
charities and foundations
seek donations with puppies
and haunted faces
each month of the year
flipped over so that the grid
of numbers reveals neat
tidy boxes of hope
our distant ancestors
and vestigial nomads
followed the honking
flights of wings
migrating beasts
stars rising and
setting with Mars
and Venus shadowing
the waning moon
washed out with
artificial light
arbitrary roman numerals
and a Pope’s calendar
determine when we celebrate
with rote sincerity
dutifully turn the page
unless you are Jewish
or Chinese and follow
a different tradition
but freedom comes with a price
that no donation can match