Show Me On The Doll Where This Book Hurt You
T
he following poem by guest contributor Daniel W. Wright takes aim at the narrow thinking behind the alarming surge in censorship and book banning currently taking place in our schools and libraries. As well as touching upon the dangerous implications of this critical-thought-crushing practice.
Show Me On The Doll
Where This Book Hurt You
By Daniel W. Wright
They finally started coming for the information
Just as they once went after music
Put a parental warning sticker over my mouth
and the mouth of every writer out there
To Kill a Mockingbird and Lady Chatterly’s Lover
are cast back in the fire
Howl and Tropic of Cancer
are back in court upon appeal
The busybodies are out for blood
out for ink
and out after all the silly misfits
.
Evil deeds have hidden behind
noble language so long
they are now transparent
But now it stands
with the possibility of every Missouri librarian
facing anything
from a $500 fine to a year behind bars
No one has that kinda money
or that kinda time
.
It all comes down to small people
wanting big power
Maybe the biggest of all
The power to control the mind
To limit what goes in
Because these parents already have
the lives of their children
mapped out
And know who they want
living in their neighborhoods
.
A perfect little life
all planned out
And there’s no room
in a perfect little life
for questioning
all the little plans
.
Author Bio:
Daniel W. Wright is an award-nominated poet and fiction writer. He most recently wrote the foreword for Sacred Decay: The Art of Lauren Marx (Dark Horse, 2021). He is the author of eight collections of poetry, including Love Letters from the Underground (Spartan Press, 2021), Rodeo of the Soul (Spartan Press, 2019), and Murder City Special (Bad Jacket, 2017). His work has appeared in print journals such as The Literary Parrot, BUK100, 365 Days, and Gasconade Review, as well as online journals such as Book of Matches. He currently resides in St. Louis, MO, where you can usually find him in a bar or a bookstore.
#On Censorship #Banned #Guest Essayists
Author photo by Gabrielle Blanton
Doll photo by Yousef Bagheri on Unsplash
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