by Trevor Moffa
Pockmarks in the Pittsburgh dark
Midnight oil burning portals open
Like potholes in the empty streets
Peopled apartments, blocks of offices
Being cleaned for morning, light
Left on in a hurry
…
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On the car ride home from a family vacation
my stepfather is half focused on the road
half bored with the radio
my mother sleeps
my two kid brothers blankly stare at a little screen
I vehemently listen to headphones
and crave a cigarette
my baby sister gazes out the window
smiles occasionally
“Over time, I realized as I found my native language of expression, it led to poetry … and once I had that freedom in sign language, it led to so much more.” — Douglas Ridloff
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With the ongoing struggles to prevent American history from being whitewashed in classrooms, which we’ve recently seen in Trump’s attack on the 1619 Project, we can’t ignore the removal of Beloved from high school curriculums. It’s journey, it seems, is likely not yet over.
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But what does “inappropriate” mean? Too inappropriate for your current age? Inappropriate because of ideals you don’t hold? Suggestive of alternative lifestyles? Yes — to all of the above.
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Lady Liberty
your huddled masses have arrived
and we can’t breathe.
Lady Liberty
You need glasses
If I love Nicaragua, I must criticize Nicaragua — Nicaragua, as a society, as a government — because I care about it. … No healthy patriotism comes from the notion that the things you love are above critique. Where there is injustice, oppression, flawed systems within your society, country, government, religion, family, we must speak out.
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