Roses in the Snow

For the names we will never get to read. For the names that will never be spoken. For the names we don’t say enough. For the names we need to be reminded to say. For the names whose last words will never be recorded.

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFor those brave enough to do more than read names.
For Minneapolis.
For Keith.
For Alex.
For Renee.
For all our roses in the snow.Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedRoses in the Snow

Are you ok?

We are a nation of names
that gets off to reading lists of names.

Black Lives Matter Names
Say Her Name Names
LatinX Names
Immigrant Names
Red Hand Names
Disabled Names
Advocate Names
The FBI Put You on a First Amendment Watch List Names
We’re Adding You to a Database Names
Gay Names
Queer Names
Trans Names
Pink Triangle Names
Color Coded Names
Unknown Names
We Lost Them Names
Trafficked Names
Complied and Died Names

Names the media never sought
Names that we forgot
Names for which the media were silent
All never-see-the-sun-rise Names

Remember these Names

I’m not mad

I’m just tired of adding names
making new lists of names
and reciting names as a bedtime prayer.

I’m just angry
that the only names we don’t read are the ones we protect
The Masked Names
who will never be haunted by cries of

¡Libertad!
Let us out

because it’s just a game, right?
Just the call of duty
to hate your neighbor more than yourself
Choosing to not see
when we gas our citizens in the streets

If we could only imagine
empathy

Instead we pick up our hymnal
turn to a blank page
And start a list of
Concentration Camp Names
hoping we don’t run out of space
until we get that final list
of Masked Names

So we pray
until the green fog lifts
and we no longer have to go
plant roses in the snow