“to Chelsea Manning” a poem by Eric King

Chelsea chelsea chelsea

They kept the keys within reach

Desperate to hurt you

Fiending for vengeance

The main news focuses on a rapist

While you focus on justice

Unbending in your ethics

Maybe they thought you soft

Forgetting your iron core

Striking while most vulnerable

Promising, if you talk then you walk

How they rage out at your reserve

A jaw welded shut

Only allowing out dissident words

You’ve seen their hatred, felt the venom

Fox called you a traitor

Deserving of the guillotine or dungeon

Wearing their weighted shackles

With your neck never falling

Hopefully your freedom

next time

Will be longer

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