Pardon Me

It used to be simple.
“Pardon me, I didn’t hear you.”
“Pardon me, I didn’t you mean to bump you.”
“Pardon me, but I disagree.”
“Pardon me, do you have the time?”
“Pardon my French, but Fuck you.”

It used to be simple.
What is a government pardon?
Relieved of legal consequences. 
Criminal conviction ends.
Convicts accept responsibility
For crimes
After serving lengthy sentences.
Good behavior required.
Full pardon: all rights restored:
Gun ownership, voting rights.
It used to be simple.

Now it is complex.
1500 defendants convicted.
Violent crimes and
Seditious conspiracy
Pardoned.
Rioters threw homemade
Napalm in Mason jars.
Used rifles, shotguns,
Pistols, stun guns, pepper spray,
Crossbows, metal batons, and flagpoles.
They injured, maimed, and killed
The police.
Blood oozed, gushed, and spattered.
Pardoned.

Defiling our revered space,
Many wore Nazi regalia,
Parading a noose
And chanting “Hang Mike Pence.”
Pardoned.
Now they vow retribution,
Revenge.

And that’s not all.
900 pending indictments
Dismissed.
Violence whitewashed.
Blame deflected.
History rewritten.
Pardoned.

 When will this army of hate
Appear again?
Where will this army of hate
Appear again?
Hate is dismantling
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Everywhere.
Is hate wearing the vests that say
ICE?
Is hate wearing their nerdy glasses
Combing through OUR financial records
In government offices?
Is hate stripping USAID?
Is hate dismantling medical and basic research?
Will hate cutback Social Security,
SNAP, and Medicaid so
The poor will be cold, hungry, and sick?
Will we look the other way?
Pardon hate?

Cannons volley hate
While we hide in foxholes.
Will we pardon hate?

 How can we resist?
Stay informed, march, call, call again, protest
Petition, post, preach, protect, pay, pray and
Publicize.
Email, write, join, boycott, gather, sign,
Talk, tell, telephone.
Organize, research, notify,
Talk, talk, talk in your outside voice.
And write poetry.

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