Show Me on the Doll Where This Book Hurt You

By Guest Author: Daniel Wright | Categories: 12-21, Guest Essayists, On Censorship

A
poem by that addresses not only the limited thinking behind censorship, but also the dangerous implications of the practice. 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.