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from: "Borderbus" by Juan Felipe Herrera

from: "Borderbus"No somos nada y venimos de la nadapero esa nada lo es todo si la nutres de amorpor eso venceremosWe are nothing and we come from nothingbut that nothing is everything, if you feed it with lovethat is why we will triumph We are everything hermanaBecause we come from everything Herrera, Juan F. “Borderbus.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/91751/borderbus.…

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"Love" by Assata Shakur

"Love"Love is contraband in Hell,cause love is an acidthat eats away bars.But you, me, and tomorrowhold hands and make vowsthat struggle will multiply.The hacksaw has two blades.The shotgun has two barrels.We are pregnant with freedom.We are a conspiracy. Shakur, Assata. “Love.” Assata: An Autobiography. Lawrence Hill Books, 1987, p. 130.

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"$19.42" by Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley

"$19.42"Japanese Interment photo:Family outside HomeAmerican flag in frameNO JAPS WANTEDin red In red a mother’s elbowstained against windowsillHere this ink of my ancestryfor sale on Ebay. Clark, Fred. “Poston, Arizona. Living Quarters of Evacuees of Japanese Ancestry at This War Relocation Authority . . .” Wikimedia Commons, 1 Jun. 1942,…

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from: "Refugee" by Ana M. Fores Tamayo

from: "Refugee"And then, remember me—detail by bloody detail;reflect on what it is I represent,and memorize these tears of bloodwhen you laugh at every refugee. Fores Tamayo, Ana M. “Refugee.” Bad Hombres & Nasty Women: Anthology. Edited by Gabriel H. Sanchez and Isaac Chavarria. The Raving Press, 2017, pp. 16-21.

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from: "they lie when they say grief lightens with time" by ire'ne lara silva

from: "they lie when they say grief lightens with time"i want no more of family my brother is all i need oflove and grief ceaselessly intertwiningall i need of hoping and bleedinghours of peace and hours of warmy brother in grieving for our dead mother our living fatherhis heart heavy with roiling griefshis arms scarred over with living hurtshe cannot relieve the weight of my griefi cannot…

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"Awestruck [Verb]" by Andrea Gibson

"Awestruck [Verb]"1. to quit building bomb shelters to keep the universe from blowing your mind. Gibson, Andrea. “Awestruck [Verb].” Lord of the Butterflies. Button Poetry, 2018, p.43.

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"Unrest in Baton Rouge" by Tracy K. Smith

"Unrest in Baton Rouge" after the photo by Jonathan BachmanOur bodies run with ink dark blood.Blood pools in the pavement’s seams.Is it strange to say love is a languageFew practice, but all, or near all speak?Even the men in black armor, the onesJangling handcuffs and keys, what elseAre they so buffered against, if not love’s bladeSizing up the heart’s familiar meat?We watch and grieve. We…

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from: "Ode to TERFs" by H. Melt

from: "Ode to TERFs"you cite the transsexual empirespell women incorrectlyhijack pride parades& mourn michfest.we are livingin a new world.you can join usor becomeextinct. Melt, H. “Ode to TERFs.” There Are Trans People Here. Haymarket Books, 2021, p. 20.

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from: Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

from: Citizen: An American LyricThe patience is in the living. Time Opens out to you.The opening, between you and you, occupied,zoned for an encounter,given the histories of you and you—And always, who is this you? Rankine, Claudia. Citizen. Graywolf Press, 2014, p. 140.

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from: "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" by Ocean Vuong

from: "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous"Tell me it was for the hunger& nothing less. For hunger is to givethe body what it knowsit cannot keep. That this amber lightwhittled down by another waris all that pins my hand to your chest. Vuong, Ocean. “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.” Night Sky with Exit Wounds. Copper Canyon Press, 2016, pp. 42-46.

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"All the Good Girls Go Missing" by Lauren Badillo Milici

"All the Good Girls Go Missing"it’s so hard so I stayin for the night.good, he says—girls like youalways go missing. don’tbe so small & blonde.but what if I like being badat this? ask wherehe hit me and I’ll let you. Milici, Lauren B. “All the Good Girls Go Missing,” Sad Sexy Catholic. Clash Poetry, 2022, p. 43.

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from "Three Little Words" by Rossy Evelin Lima

from: "Three Little Words"My shattered hands are deer crowns,rooted stemsthat whittle their own path.Hands so free!I am a beheaded woman,a glorified decapitated woman.My head is a nimbus,for I am the queenand my body is the empire. Lima, Rossy E. “Three Little Words.” Wildness, readwildness.com/4/lima-three. Accessed 30 Mar. 2024.

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from "What Sex Becomes" by Olivia Gatwood

from: "What Sex Becomes"I felt like a school teacherwho goes home to no children,a cab driver without a car,a therapist who criesin the middle of the nightand can’t figure out why. Gatwood, Olivia. “What Sex Becomes.” New American Best Friend. Button Poetry, 2017, p. 35.

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"Border Crossings" by Natalie D-Napoleon

"Border Crossings"checkpointsshare a native tonguehot spots forcontrol, andcrossingsweathered signs and asphaltconnectingmovements,absurdonceambitious empiresdestined to pursuediscomfortmy memories the lines of themap D-Napoleon, Natalie. “Border Crossing.” Poets Facing the Wall.* The Raving Press, 2018, p.56. *Poets Facing the Wall is available on Kindle Unlimited (accessed 1 April 2024).

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from "The Last Time that the World Ended" by PW Covington

from: "The Last Time that the World Ended"Disaster becomes only a word after too longAnd grief always looks the same from the skyWhen every storm is the worst stormHow many times have I rebuilt my life?How much destroyed or left behind, by forces of nature, by acts of God, byMindlessness and happenstance?Where were the legions of angels, then? Covington, PW. “The Last Time that the World Ended.”…

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"Strange Gospels" by Cynthia Cruz

"Strange Gospels"In this version of the storyThe girl becomes a blonde with ribbonsAnd smooth crimson laceIt was predetermined.I taught themHow to do it.I asked him to kill meSo I could beFree. Cruz, Cynthia. “Strange Gospels.” The Glimmering Room. Four Way Books, 2012, p. 25.