The State of the Union

Allowables by Nikki Giovanni

Look at those last lines in this poem by Nikki Giovanni.

I don’t think / I’m allowed / to kill something / because I am / frightened.” 

Powerful.

I’ve started, stopped, erased, rewritten, and pondered on this post many times over the last week, including at 3 AM when images painted my dreams red. At least for me, they were only dreams—something I could wake up from with ease—but for so many in this country, violence and racism is a part of life that must be faced dai...