by Karen Warinsky
a poem using twenty of the words and phrases flagged for disuse among Federal agencies
I am an accessible advocate
an anti-racist
an active activist for what’s good in life,
what we need to survive,
to love.
I want to break down barriers and biases,
know that listening is important
and that facts are things you can’t ignore,
but I don’t know everything yet,
so, space is left for mysteries
for foibles
for my right to be wrong, and yours as well,
but let’s keep talking to each other
using this list of diverse words
to communicate
about cultural heritage, cultural differences,
let’s work toward equality
between the genders,
in health care, in all areas of life,
let’s include the indigenous community,
stamp out as much injustice as we can put our feet on,
while we work on our mental health,
our polarization and prejudice,
think about our privilege,
our socio-economic status
find our unconscious bias
protect our vulnerable populations,
set this Aquarian Age up on its damn feet!
Karen Warinsky, a former reporter and retired teacher, has work in anthologies including Nuclear Impact: Broken Atoms in Our Hands, the 2019 Mizmor Anthology, the 2024 National and International Goddess Anthology and in journals including The Naugatuck River Review, Silkworm and Light, Worcester Magazine, The New Verse News, Blue Heron, Circumference, Consilience, and Wordpeace, She is a 2023 Best of the Net nominee. Her books are Gold in Autumn (2020), Sunrise Ruby, (2022) (both from Human Error Publishing), and Dining with War (2023, Alien Buddha Press). Her new book Beauty & Ashes will be published in 2025 through Kelsay Books. Warinsky creates community poetry readings in CT and MA under the name Poets at Large, now in its sixth year.
