Blood is Red – 5 Poems
by Renee Garcia-Brown
Lesson
I’m old
Seen lots of history
It’s naive
to believe
You can fight fascism
with peace & love
This isn’t the 60’s
It’s a whole other revolution –
Are you gonna stand in line
For your own execution?
Bastille Day or Vichy Prey?
Cowards in the capitol
Spineless enablers
Kiss the ass
Of a fascist traitor
We recognize this
It’s something we’ve seen –
Aristocrats, collaborators
Craven dictators
The sharp-edged blade’s sheen
As it slides down
The guillotine.
The Color of Blood
Blood is red
Trump is a fool
What will you shed
On the day of the coup?
Beyond Tomorrow
Courage not courtesy
Boldness not begging
Action not accommodation
NO to ‘this is normal.’
If the house is falling you can’t prop it up with positive intent.
You can’t love the foundation into not cracking.
Sometimes the whole thing is so rotten and dangerous
You just have to burn it,
Salt the earth
And start over.
Bloom
A white rose bloomed
Out of the Nazi sewer in Germany
The rose not a symbol of love
But resistance to tyranny.
Non-violence if you can,
Fight if you must
Keep living, resisting
Till fascism is dust.
A white rose is blooming
In the U.S.A.
And we’ll never stop –
Every rose has its day.
Renee Garcia-Brown is a progressive feminist, army veteran, former print journalist and published author of fiction and poetry. A SoCal native now living in Texas. Proud member of The Resistance. @RenwriterRenee
(painting by Eugene Delacroix “Liberty Guiding the People”)
In the context, I completely agree with these beautifully written poems. Also, they are so well written and pleasing that I momentarily forget that we are reading about events that are happening today, and not nearly 100 years ago.