White Lie

September 13, 2017

wave it like a white flag, surrendering

        with handshakes and smiles
        so civil

project upon it red and blue patriotism

        stars like ordnance exploding
        stripes like prison bars

        (truth, held captive)

parade it like a memory

        celebrating men who slaughtered brothers
        to enslave

        (sense, held captive)

whisper, like wind whipping fabric:

        the emperor’s new flag still has no colors

whisper, like rending garments:

        the problem is not one man, elected
        the problem is a tyrannous minority who sustains him
        the problem is small men chasing votes

        stuffing our futures
        like paper scraps into ballot boxes

        (humanity, held captive)

wave the white lie, blank as a black screen

        like electronic voting machines swallowing code
        returning unverifiable results

the next war will not be civil

 


READ MORE

Lawmakers force Trump to formally condemn white supremacists [Politico]
Baltimore officers won’t face federal civil rights charges in Freddie Gray’s death, Justice Department concludes  [Washington Post]


Anna Kander is a writer in the Midwest. Her work is published or forthcoming in journals including Social Justice Poetry, I am Not a Silent Poet, and Dear Damsels.

Editorial art by Elle Aviv Newton.

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