Today’s New Verse News: ANOTHER COMPRADORE
by Akua Lezli Hope
Original photo at Esquire
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Stop talking about him. Stop giving him play. Turn your back. Make him disappear off our feeds, our tvs, allay our fears Let the diseased thing fall in the forest, unhear Let the one hand not connect with either cheek or other hand no sound Don't believe and thus disempower this winged, wicked thing so that it unappears— don't cheer it back to flickering life. Don’t untie its knots or reinterpret its betrayals Don’t crown its crap with gravitas Toss holy water on it. Make it melt away. Stop all attention allowing it to last Best left alone, shunned, rebuked, undone, its name I will not say
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Akua Lezli Hope is a creator and wisdom seeker using sound, words, fiber, glass, metal, & wire to create poems, patterns, stories, music, sculpture, & peace. A paraplegic, third-generation New Yorker, her honors include the NEA, two NYFAs, NYSCA, SFPA & Rhysling & Pushcart Prize nominations.