What if my dystopia is your heaven, my utopia your hell?
We’re not on the same page, darling
May I still call you that?
You said it could never happen here
Isn’t that what the Germans said of Hitler?
Where did they think his anti-semantic rants would lead?
Darling, I know in your heart the idea has some appeal
Men hate it when women say no
The President is accused of rape, and his party says, So what?
Why wield the hammer, why wield at all?
Just lie on the warm grass with me, revel in the sun
As you drive me into the soft earth I watch the trees speak
A language of dance and sway—gently now, but they too can rage when pushed
You’re pushing me
I’d like you to stop
Darling, I say
Can you hear me?
Or have you reduced me to silence?
Y
Photo by eigne from FreeImages
Anne Leigh Parrish
Award-winning writer Anne Leigh Parrish’s next novel, an open door, will be published in October 2022 by Unsolicited Press. Recent titles from Unsolicited Press are the moon won’t be dared, a poetry collection, October 2021, and a winter night, a novel, released in March 2021. She is the author of seven other books. She has recently ventured into the art of photography and lives in the South Sound Region of Washington State. Find her online at her website, Twitter, Facebook, Medium, Instagram, Linked In, and Goodreads.
