In 1692 Sarah Good, wrongly accused
of witchcraft, was hanged. Her daughter,
Dorothy Good, also wrongly accused,
was imprisoned at just four or five years old.
A week into 2026 Renee Nicole Good
was executed by a lawless ICE agent.
A poet, Renee’s power was paying attention,
putting what she witnessed into lyrical, exquisite
words that touched hearts, won prizes.
Vance, Trump, and other talking heads
haven’t yet labelled Renee a witch,
but they use hateful phrases to describe her––
evil, brainwashed, radicalized, disruptor,
and domestic terrorist. They spread lies,
pretending to prove untruths.
They fear Renee’s strength. They’re frightened
by her memory, anxious that our gathering crowds
will confirm their impotence, reveal
their profound malevolence.
They’re not wrong to be afraid.
Though they burn us down
with tear gas, pepper spray, bullets,
slander us in kangaroo courts,
they can’t stop seeing
our covens grow.
Our brew overflows now––
loud, fierce and unstoppable!
Laurie Rosen is a lifelong New Englander. Her poetry has appeared in One Art: a journal of poetry, Gyroscope Review, Oddball Magazine, The New Verse News, The Inquisitive Eater: New School Food, Zig Zag Lit Mag, and elsewhere. Laurie was nominated for a 2025 Pushcart Prize. This poem is another in a series of “witch poems” that she is writing.