Poetry

Eric Kim

By

JD DeHart

Caning Man

Watch as his stork

legs wander through

the fields with purpose,

a bird with a sharp

beak,

he is the hate

within our hearts brought

to bear in real flesh,

the racism and sexism

that lives thriving

like a worm under

the daily skin,

his swift stroke a blind

reminder of how we

choose, yes we choose,

to let reason lie fallow

in the field and subscribe

to illogical rage,

picking the parts

of what we believe

to make known in our

action and voice.

Be Silent

Women are more

than silence, more than

childbearing, more than

a blame for the proverbial

apple or act,

or an object to be fumbled

with and grabbed,

Women are sanity,

reason, logic, brilliance,

the voice of a mother

or sister speaking,

more than half a puzzle,

more than complements

or mates, more than figures

to take up the token

of a family name,

and to treat them as pieces

of material for scorn,

as curves or images

for ogling makes men less

than men.

JD DeHart

JD DeHart is a writer and teacher. His chapbook, The Truth About Snails, is available from RedDashboard.