Word Gate

To placate our Chief-of-State
and his second-rate ego-inflate
a new mandate now dictates
language we must alternate
before we write or conversate

His Twitter click bait nauseates
Oh how we fixate and cogitate
irate over statues confederate
Please don’t repeal the regulate
sedate our streaming data rate

We will continue to congregate
from Beaver State to Sunshine State
to demonstrate and agitate
activate to stop the hate
liberate this modern slave-state

With our mates we commiserate
We hope and wait and calculate
for new Head-of-State and running mate
to make America truly great
or else we might all emigrate

Shawn Aveningo Sanders is a globally published, award-winning poet whose work has appeared in over 100 literary journals and anthologies. She’s a Pushcart nominee (2015), Best of the Net nominee (2017), co-founder of The Poetry Box®, managing editor for The Poeming Pigeon®, and was named Best Female Poet-Performer in Sacramento News & Review Reader Poll (2009). Shawn is a proud mother of three and shares the creative life with her husband in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. Read other articles by Shawn.