Fred Shaw: Comfort
Without warning, the busboy died
in his bed after school, the genes of his heart
finished ticking toward failure.
Julia Conley: Nationwide Federal Order Bars Starbucks From Firing Workers for Union Activity
“Starbucks continues to violate the law in egregious ways, thus requiring a nationwide cease and desist order,” said the general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board.
John Gould Fletcher: Lincoln
Like a gaunt, scraggly pine
Which lifts its head above the mournful sandhills;
And patiently, through dull years of bitter silence,
Untended and uncared for, starts to grow.
Video: Excerpt from President Jimmy Carter’s Farewell address to the Nation (January 14, 1981)
As the oldest living US president has opted to spend his remaining time at home, laudatory responses come from leaders around the world.
Video: Robert Wrigley reads ‘American Fear’
In this long poem about the present disfunction of American society, Robert Wrigley ‘tells all the truth, but makes it sing.’
Naomi Shihab Nye: Blood
Homeless fig, this tragedy with a terrible root
is too big for us. What flag can we wave?
I wave the flag of stone and seed,
table mat stitched in blue.
Christine Fair: Triptych
If she had a girl, she wanted her to be pretty-popular-slender-cheerleader.
She got me.
She named me Carol.
Etheridge Knight: Apology for Apostasy?
…then shall I
Sing of beaches, white in the magic sun,
And of moons and maidens at midnight.
Abby Zimet: Please Hurry, There’s A Lot of Dead Bodies. This Is Not Normal
Today in America, “The number one killer of children is guns.”
Jessica Corbett: Report Details ‘Brutal Violence’ Endured by Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer Women
The scale of brutal violence, legal discrimination, and sexualized harassment these communities face is rarely documented.
Henry Burke: Journalists’ Lack Of Understanding Distorts Economic Coverage
Much of the biases progressives highlight in mainstream press may be a result of the banal fact that journalists focused on politics just don’t know much about economics.
Alexis Rhone Fancher: Blind Man’s Bluff
I dated a blind man in the 80s. Tall, slender, he was easy on the eyes. When I asked him what it was like not to see, he told me to imagine not breathing.
Robert Frost: The Fear
A lantern light from deeper in the barn
Shone on a man and woman in the door
And threw their lurching shadows on a house
Near by, all dark in every glossy window.
Rebekah Entralgo: Biden Is Right. No Billionaire Should Pay a Lower Tax Rate Than a School Teacher
Under the billionaire minimum income tax, billionaires would pay a tax rate of at least 20 percent on their full income, including unrealized appreciation, just like workers pay taxes on their paychecks each year.
