BALLOT BALLET BULLOT BULLET–poem by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal

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CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Vote for One

 

REPUBLICAN PARTY

Bodies stacked under a tent & numbers called by                                                                 47

DEMOCRATIC PARTY

We sweat in white plastic folding chairs & husband our late fear                                       76

LIBERTARIAN PARTY

Against shriveling roses & slow blocks under rolling red sun                                            101

GREEN PARTY

Which misery least likely, what future least lost                                                                  113

 

FILL IN THE BUBBLE

THE BUBBLE THE BUBBLE THE BUBBLE THE BUBBLE THE BUBBLE

 

CANDIDATE FOR PRES(ID)ENT OF THE (UN)ITED STATES

ununited uncounted unpapered undocumented unarmed underfed underfunded unaccounted uninsured underinsured uncared for unpaid underpaid unanimous we are still here in this uncanny unraveling unfair country calls for unity from the unprotected unreported unwanted physical contact we are unyielding to this unctuous uncivil unqualified untrue un-nameable evil under god we are still invisible what liberty what justice for whom not us, never us

 

 

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Vanessa Angélica Villarreal is the daughter of two Mexican immigrants, born in the Rio Grande Valley borderlands. Her work has appeared in PBS Newshour, Waxwing, The Wanderer, DIAGRAM, The Feminist Wire, The Poetry Foundation Harriet Blog, and elsewhere. Most recently, she has served as an editor for the Bettering American Poetry project. She is currently a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing at USC, and is also a CantoMundo Fellow. Her book, BEAST MERIDIAN, is forthcoming from Noemi Press in early 2017. She currently eats tacos with her family in Los Angeles, CA, but her forever hometown is Houston, Texas.

 

IMAGE: Getty Images / Archive Photos / Getty Images

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