by Gina A. Turner
A Fair Witness [a profession invented in Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein] is an individual trained to observe events and report exactly what is seen and heard, making no extrapolations or assumptions. – Wikipedia
I hear that people who shouldn’t be in this country are eating pets
I see state troopers at schools in Springfield, Ohio
I hear a candidate say “I have to create stories so that the media pays attention”
I see Springfield’s CultureFest cancelled over safety concerns
I hear what the 45th president said: people from Haiti “all have AIDS”
I see colleges in Ohio holding classes remotely
I hear lawful residents in Ohio called “illegal aliens”
I see elementary schools evacuated due to dozens of bomb threats
I hear what our country’s former leader said: Haiti is one of the “shithole countries”
I see my Haitian friend promote her book on achieving a just economy
I hear a member of the Haitian community say
“We’ve been receiving a lot of threats, physically and verbally”
I hear parents say that their children are terrified
I hear people say that they are still undecided about their vote
Gina A. Turner is a Professor of Psychology at a community college in Pennsylvania. Her work has appeared in Poets Online, The New Verse News, and her school’s literary magazine The Laconic. She lives with her husband and dog in Lambertville, New Jersey.