by RC deWinter

Now, in the hushed violet light after the storm

I tremble to see the army of death’s heads still shouting.

Waving flags from disgraced history.

Brandishing weapons, old and new,

with which to butcher our foundation.  


There’s nothing romantic about insurrection;

it’s a savage business conducted by the damaged,

hollow lovers of battle and blood

who’ve kidnapped Jesus, holding him hostage

to destruction as if theirs is a holy war.


They fight not in the name of freedom, but in

enslavement to evils we defeated lifetimes ago.

Thought buried forever. Their resurrection is

a wake-up call to complacency. There’s no margin

for comfort, no vacation from vigilance.


If we are to preserve the truth we claim to hold self-evident,

that all of us – regardless of gender, color, age and any other

differences – are equal in our common humanity, somehow

we must find the strength, the grace and the words to overcome

the tyranny of hatred to preserve our glorious experiment

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