Monday, August 11, 2025

The Green Police By Michael Minassian


My wife and I walk through

the neighborhood every morning,

pretending we’re the Green Police,

marking which houses leave the outside 

lights on twenty-four hours a day,

complaining about the ceiling fan

next door that spins 

on the back patio even in winter.


I suppose we are a cliché:

a retired couple roaming

the streets surrounding our house,

playing good cop, bad cop—


I’d like to say I was the tough one,

but she’s the one with swagger;

look at that car 

in the driveway, she says

in her outside voice,

nobody in it, but the engine

running, polluting the air.


Next time, she’ll probably put a boot

on the car, switch off the porch lights,

while I stand by, the good cop, 

waiting to arrest whoever left 

that damn fan to spin.





MICHAEL MINASSIAN lives with his wife in Southern New England. He is a Contributing Editor for Verse-Virtual, an online poetry journal. His poetry collections Time is Not a River, Morning Calm, and A Matter of Timing as well as a chapbook, Jack Pays a Visit, are all available on Amazon. For more information: https://michaelminassian.com

 


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The Green Police By Michael Minassian

My wife and I walk through the neighborhood every morning, pretending we’re the Green Police, marking which houses leave the outside  lights...