Land Of The Un/Free Poem by Chen-ou Liu

a 4-tanka sequence

'my body, my choice'
penetrating the distant chants
of 'U-S-A! '
I gaze at Lady Liberty's
forward-facing charge

to the clicking
of cameras in a row
the Convicted Felon
proclaims, 'I will protect
the women... like it or not'

'ka-kis-to-cracy...'
my English teacher's voice
quivering
as 'U-S-A! ' chants get louder
from the crowd outside the school

in morning chill
a youth gazes at the billboard
dripping red:
'your body, My choice' painted
over 'my body, my choice'


FYI: The first part of kakistocracy comes from the Greek kákisto(s) , meaning 'worst.' Therefore, kakistocracy means 'government by the WORST.'

The New Yorker, Nov.14: A New Rallying Cry for the Irony-Poisoned Right: It took less than twenty-four hours after Trump's reëlection for young men to take up a slogan that could define the coming era of gendered regression: 'Your body, my choice.'

And PBS, Oct.31: Trump: I will 'protect the women'... 'like it or not'