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.”
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.
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.)
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.
Abby Zimet: Shame Shame Shame | What American Justice Looks Like
The mindless rupturing of families and communities soars.
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.
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.
Barbara Crooker: Economics 101
What if the GDP was really made up of birdsong,
the limitless arithmetic of joy?
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.”
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.
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.
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.
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer: The One Great Story
we might find we are held
by strands of birdsong, by the even beat
of eagle’s wings, by the blue moonlight
that reflects off the snow.
Brad Peacock: Pride (Two Poems)
You can scrub letters from websites
You can take away our healthcare
You can do your best to strip away our humanity
We will not be erased
