Hate on Hate for the Poet

So, we can’t talk about Brittney, Alex Saab, Julian,
Gary Webb, Snowden, Leonard, Mumia…
so we can’t question who, what, where, why, when, how
this basketball star gets out of jail
free card others rot

so we can’t look into the belly of the beasts
the USA, the WNBA, sports and million dollar
paydays, or how Biden roared when he said,
more blacks and mexicans in jail
that 1994 crime bill he authored
for more prison cells, more aggressive policing

more broken windows, broken familes Bide

no, the episode of hash oil in Russia
the LGBTQ basketball star
no talk about anything, as the cancel culture
trigger warning thespians and poets
announcing anything pasring the world
of politics and democrats, that it means
racism, hate, homophobia, when in fact

the opposite is true, and this poem Leslé Honoré
pens it’s about
keeping dialogue shut down
yammering about doubting toxic spills
and they are not illegal

her lines kill:  Be silent
Or we will know
That you hate Women
That you hate Black People
That you are Homophobic
That you should be silent 

but poet with Facebook following
will pronounce
all is done, cuz the poet loves
anything that moves from
a Biden mouth, and the lady
is back in USA, and there it is

USA USA USA, more people incarcerated
98 percent plea “deals,” Innocence Project
on steroids, and, damn, that poet
jumps up and down for a star
celebrity cult, and fuck the people too poor
to leave debtors’ prison

and the poet says
only those in diplomacy and
international relations
can speak about Griner,

as we have another
woke-unwoke person
running at her mouth sayin’
“only those I approve of
get to speak.”

Brittney Griner and the U.S. State

**Note: This poem is a reaction to put downs and shut ups for anyone doubting the Biden White House and this basketball star and the Lord of War swapped out story. Any discussion, verboten, or, if you critize the event we/you are a racist, a hater. This is the way, man/woman, and there will always be blood now when a man, woman, child doubts any narrative.

Read, “Brittney Griner and the U.S. State” by Margaret Kimberley. Note, the Lord of War (he did deals with USA, too) is free to talk, while Brittney? “Brittney Griner ended up being freed because the Russians were angry about Bout’s imprisonment. Biden eventually agreed to Russia’s terms, staged a photo opportunity with her wife, and then whisked her off to an army base where she is being reeducated, or rather reintegrated.”

Paul Haeder's been a teacher, social worker, newspaperman, environmental activist, and marginalized muckraker, union organizer. Paul's book, Reimagining Sanity: Voices Beyond the Echo Chamber (2016), looks at 10 years (now going on 17 years) of his writing at Dissident Voice. Read his musings at LA Progressive. Read (purchase) his short story collection, Wide Open Eyes: Surfacing from Vietnam now out, published by Cirque Journal. Here's his Amazon page with more published work Amazon. Read other articles by Paul, or visit Paul's website.