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Friday, July 17, 2020

KEMPED

by Michael L. Ruffin


Cartoon appears with permission. All right reserved.


Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp sues Atlanta's mayor to stop her from requiring masks as COVID-19 cases skyrocket. —Yahoo! News, July 17, 2020


Here in Georgia,
we have folks who
are neat and organized,
and we have folks who
are disheveled and chaotic.

In short, some of
us are kempt,
and some of
us are unkempt.

Sadly, from a gubernatorial
perspective, we are
universally Kemped,
which means to be
governed by someone
with little regard for science
and less concern for people
(“DeSantised” is a
close synonym).

We have mayors
doing their best to
lead in unKemped
ways by adopting
science and compassion-
driven policies. But the
governor is trying to
stop them from doing
all they can to save
lives because—well, I
don’t know why.
Politics, I guess.
And power.

Anyway, I hope when
November 2022 arrives,
Georgia will become
the most unKemped
state in the nation.


Michael L. Ruffin is a writer, editor, preacher, and teacher living and working in Georgia. He posts poems on Instagram (@michaell.ruffin) and prose opinions at On the Jericho Road. He is author of Fifty-Seven: A Memoir of Death and Life and  of the forthcoming Praying with Matthew. His poetry has appeared at TheNewVerse.News and is forthcoming in 3 Moon Magazine and Rat's Ass Review.