Alas Poor Boomer

Invaded by lead
the human body
stashes it in the bones
to delay the threat,
a strategy akin
to how the mind handles
a ghastly memory,
the kind that takes gallons
of whiskey to suppress.
And like the memory
the lead returns. Released
by the crumbling bones
of middle age, it
makes them decay faster,
and this frees more lead,
et cetera, a dance
just like the bumbling
tarentella performed
by the memory
and the booze. Boomers
were exposed to record
amounts of lead—even
the Romans used less—
and since the eighties
it's been oozing back
into their blood, kidneys
and brains. Perhaps
this explains why they
elected a Nero
and cheer while he
burns it all down.