Fuck Charlie Kirk

[So, I actually wrote this not long after the whole assassination thing happened, buuut it's December and I feel like posting more poetry this month while I work on some upcoming posts, so that's what you get!]

They held a rally for the fascist who died

there were pyrotechnics at his funeral

he said people like me

“should be dealt with like they did in the 50s and 60s”

And I’m still being scolded

for not mourning

Their small-featured martyr

apparently a calm white man with a baritone

deserves canonization for

being killed by the same words

he used as weapons

But when people demand grace and patience

without showing any

then say you deserve no quarter in the same breath

that’s just abuse in a cheap red ballcap

the tolerant have left

and if we’re using words as weapons

then catch the sharp end

of my self defense

I will not be quiet

I will not perform sadness

For a monster, a scam artist, or a grifter

I will not gracefully excuse

the fact that my member of Parliament,

Rachel Harder,

called for a standing ovation for a man who said

he’d make his daughter

bear a child of a rape to term

because forcing people to

give birth matters more than

our pain or our choices

I will not sit down and bite my tongue

For the potential of a career in politics

Because pinching our noses and making nice

Is how we got here

And if this poem makes you uncomfortable

and you want me to shut up

or be kinder

then look me in the eye and tell me

why I should care

about your feelings

more than my own or those of my communities

We will not be cowed

by your cowardice or fumbling snatches for power

we said “this pussy grabs back”

and now it’s got teeth

If this poem makes you uncomfortable

you do not have the right

to tell me to be nicer

and you can’t fucking make me.

***

A writer and artist, Michelle Browne lives in southern AB with xer family and their cats. She is currently working on the next books in her series, other people’s manuscripts, knitting, jewelry-making, and drinking as much tea as humanly possible. Find xer all over the internet: Website  Amazon  Substack Patreon Ko-fi  Instagram  Bluesky Mastodon  Tumblr  Medium  OG Blog  Facebook