behind my closed                    eyes blood red             burning rage

i’m suppressing                       no! not this                   no more killing

murder (scream)                     run rampant                the streets of

America, not ours                   dystopian novels         no more in our

distant past/future                  (scream) bloody          hands denial of

what we clearly                         see, no I never             said reign of terror

history come back                   to haunt us no             (scream) i never

imagined this                          reality we live             this moment ever

mourning the young             willing to die               for justice and

                                                peace (sob)

Nicole Farmer (she/her) has published three books of poetry, Wet Underbelly Wind (Finishing Line Press 2022), Honest Sonnets (Kelsay Books 2023), Open Heart (Kelsay Books, 2025). Her poems have been published in Wisconsin Review, Suisun Valley Review, Apricity, Wild Roof Journal, Poetry South, Kakalak, and many other journals. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her actor husband and their stubborn terrier.     NicoleFarmerpoetry.com