Remembering Joe Hill

Other nations
honor their poets
but ours honors its slave drivers
and Injun fighters

Other nations
name their streets and squares
and restaurant dining rooms
after their bards of ages past

But ours names
its notable places
after the thieves and rapists
who despoiled them

Other nations
love their songsters
but ours stands them up blindfolded
before a firing squad.

Jon Taylor lives in Nashville, TN. He can be reached at taylor.jon440@gmail.com. Read other articles by Jon.