Vox Populi

A curated webspace for Poetry, Politics, and Nature with over 6,000,000 visitors since 2014 and over 9,000 archived posts.

Donna Spruijt-Metz: Person

I wouldn’t call you back—not
to a body that would be unable
to walk the mountains freely. Even though I miss you—
even though the hole you left in me is vast—please—
trust me.

June 15, 2025 · 16 Comments

Video: Goodnight, Moon

Stephen Gailule wants closure. After hijacking his father’s ashes, he makes a suburban pilgrimage, trespassing onto the grounds of his childhood home. Things change when the new tenant takes a … Continue reading

June 15, 2025 · Leave a comment

Askold Melnyczuk: The Enamel Box

The father smokes a pipe, instructs the child:
“Cultivate wheat and a conscience.
In a pinch, forfeit
the conscience
but save that wheat.”

June 14, 2025 · 11 Comments

Video: Margie Soudek’s Salt and Pepper Shakers

Using special FX, the director Meredith Moore surrounds her grandmother with explosions, rainbows, and sparkling lights as she shares her extensive collection of salt and pepper shakers.

June 14, 2025 · 4 Comments

Langston Hughes: Let America Be America Again

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)

June 13, 2025 · 9 Comments

Paul Rogat Loeb: Reclaiming the Flag for No Kings Day

On Flag Day, Saturday June 14, more than 1,800 local demonstrations will challenge U.S. President Donald Trump’s North Korean-style military parade for his birthday with our defense of democracy.

June 13, 2025 · Leave a comment

Abby Zimet: Shame Shame Shame | What American Justice Looks Like

The mindless rupturing of families and communities soars. 

June 12, 2025 · 10 Comments

Ron Koertge: An Old Farmer

still  has a few cows and goats he helped into this world,  then fed  with a bottle.  They follow him everywhere,  eyes rolled up in adoration.

June 12, 2025 · 11 Comments

Bill Knott: Our Farewells Lack the Plausibility of our Departures (Three paintings)

Bill Knott ((1940 – 2014) was an American poet and artist known for his wild originality.

June 12, 2025 · 8 Comments

Barbara Crooker: Economics 101

What if the GDP was really made up of birdsong,
the limitless arithmetic of joy?

June 11, 2025 · 21 Comments

Jake Johnson: With Tanks Heading to DC, Call by ‘Dictator’ Trump to ‘Bring in the Troops’ Spurs Fear of Wider Repression

“This is not about protecting communities,” said one human rights campaigner, “this is about crushing dissent and instilling fear.”

June 11, 2025 · 4 Comments

Liz Theoharis, et al: The War on Trans People in the Age of Trump

This year, Pride Month arrives at an especially dire moment for the LGBTQ+ community. Under the second Trump administration, homophobic vitriol and violence are on the rise.

June 10, 2025 · 8 Comments

Randy Minnich: Of Moths and Men

As oceans warm and creatures die,
the billionaires from glassed-in offices demand
Drill, Baby, Drill.
The world is upside down.

June 10, 2025 · 13 Comments

W. Carsten Andresen: Surge of ICE agreements with local police aim to increase deportations, but many police forces have found they undermine public safety

Studies show that undocumented people commit fewer crimes than U.S. citizens.

June 9, 2025 · 2 Comments

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