Don’t Shoot. Photo by Callen Harty.
In the morning the children wake
and wonder and worry.
“Will they come to take me away
today?
Tomorrow?” When
will I be deported?
And the queer boys and girls
and trans and more
wonder, too.
“When will they come to hurt me,
or to kill me,
to punish me for the sins in their own hearts?”
Morning in America.
Should I kill myself before they get here?
Should I kill myself before the day is done?
Mourning in America.
Trumpets blare
the dawn of a new day in America.
Dark clouds huddle on the horizon.
Lightning strikes.
Lightening strikes.
Black lives matter
less now than they did
even a day ago
and immigrant lives do not matter
at all, unless they are white . . .
from Europe . . . Christian.
The Bill of Whites.
Freedom of assembly with each other.
Freedom of pressing issues.
Freedom of one religion.
Freedom of speech—
with the right accent.
The right to bear arms—
the most precious right of all!
Life, liberty, the pursuit of privilege.
Morning in America.
By nightfall day one is done.
Mourning in America.
Our day is done.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
About Callen Harty
Originally from Shullsburg, Wisconsin Callen Harty is the author of four books and numerous published essays, poems, and articles. His most recent book is The Stronger Pull, a memoir about coming out in a small town in Wisconsin. His first book was My Queer Life, a compilation of over 30 years worth of writing on living life as a queer man. It includes essays, poems, speeches, monologues, and more. Empty Playground: A Survivor's Story, is a memoir about surviving childhood sex abuse. His play, Invisible Boy, is a narrative with poetic elements and is also an autobiographical look as surviving child sex abuse. All are available on Amazon.com (and three of them on Kindle) or can be ordered through local bookstores,
He has written almost two dozen plays and 50 monologues that have been produced. Most of them have been produced at Broom Street Theater in Madison, Wisconsin where he started as an actor, writer, and director in 1983. He served as the Artistic Director of the theater from 2005-2010. Monologues he wrote for the Wisconsin Veterans’ Museum won him awards from the Wisconsin Historical Society and the American Association of State and Local History.
He has also had essays, poems, and articles published in newspapers and magazines around the country and has taken the top prize in several photo contests. His writing has appeared in Out!, James White Review, Scott Stamp Monthly, Wisconsin State Journal, and elsewhere. He has had several essays published online for Forward Seeking, Life After Hate, and The Progressive.
Callen has also been a community activist for many years. He was the co-founder of Young People Caring, UW-Madison’s 10% Society, and Proud Theater. He served as the first President of Young People Caring and as the Artistic Director for Proud Theater for its first five years. He is still an adult mentor for the group. In 2003 he won OutReach’s Man of the Year award for his queer community activism. OutReach is Madison, Wisconsin’s lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender community center. He also won a Community Shares of Wisconsin Backyard Hero award for his sex abuse survivor activism work. He has been invited to speak before many community groups, at a roundtable on queer community theater in New York City, and has emceed several events. In 2016, Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault named him their annual Courage Award winner for his activism, writing, and speaking on sexual assault.
A Single Bluebird 