“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” ―George Orwell, 1984

Tell me where to put
    the scream I swallowed
yesterday—the rage
    burning like the sky
against the coming night,
all fierceness and ache—

because this world is full
    of terrible things,
    of villainous people,
a neighbor
    who calls himself a botanist
killing
    someone
        good—

tell me, how do we make
    good fences
out of this? When hate is given
    a blank slate,
    an unconditional
condoning,
    when small men
try so hard to be
    bigger than the are—
always by force,
always by blood,
always by taking—

this is the trouble
    of our great nation:

someone you love is riddled with bullet holes,
someone never learned to apologize,
someone never learned to ask questions,
someone never learned to care enough,
someone refused
    to acknowledge
the truth in front of their own two eyes—

    do not believe,
    do not condemn,
    do not speak out—

this is the message,
    a torrent of barbed wire,
and you are swallowing it down—
    when do you realize
it’s killing you too?
    when do you realize
she could be you?