We were warned

by Orwell, Bradbury, and Atwood

No, no, sweetie, don’t you cry

That little piggie wanted to die     

We line the recess fence, metaphorical lambs 

being led to what I hope is only metaphorical slaughter

Listening to you justify killing an animal
because the vegan version costs fifty cents more

A desire to tell the truth still eluded him

despite all the sheep who had suffered under his negligent care

(In Loving Memory of Toni Morrison)

Dogs are delicious, don’t judge what I eat!

They’re loaded with protein from their cute heads to their feet

a highlighted farmer refers to his place as “Chicken Disneyland”

because of the toys he has started to hang for them to play with

GOP: The party of family values!

Us: You separated asylum seeking children from their families and lost them

They wanted me to stay inside their box,

to color inside their lines

“The economy is great,”

Stock Market boasted

Blood gushes from my neck

   Rib roast, Chuck steak, Brisket

The swamp is swampier, the debt is, um, debtier,

and Mexico hasn’t paid a fucking dime towards a non-existent wall

I didn't yet know hope could just explode,

without a warning sign

I hear praise for my work offering sanctuary for the few

who, through serendipitous luck, survive the deadly demands of your taste buds

You sit neglected,
like the last kid to be picked at recess

There is blood on the street

and it seeps over all five flavors of Skittles

The mother, helplessly watching, bellows and bellows for days and days, in search of a baby who will never return

Sometimes Democracy gets clogged with 

greed and corruption, lies and obstruction

Crudely drawn, without my consent,

holding a sign for your advertisement