TheNewVerse.News : THE AMERICAN DREAM

Monday, January 12, 2026

THE AMERICAN DREAM

by Sheridan Walter

"If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America". —Nelson Mandela

Eddie Spott

heritage stolen lost

Trayvon Martin

hoodie stalked dead
Freddie Tyson

cure withheld deceased
Margaret Schwartz

door locked perished
Fumiko Hayashida

citizen caged departed
Emmett Till

boy lynched inanimate

Jeffrey Miller

campus shot lifeless
Dr. A.C. Jackson

dream torched gone
Ryan White

plague ignored passed
Zong Captives

cargo drowned spiritless
Chief Big Foot

tribe frozen unanimated
Brandon Teena

truth violated bereft of life
Karen Silkwood

secrets radiated checked out
The Rosenbergs

voltage applied passed on
Addie Mae Collins

church bombed resting in peace
Medgar Evers

driveway ambushed late
Louis Tikas

miners gunned fallen
Fred Hampton

bedroom raided asleep
Nicola Sacco

anarchist executed demised
Eric Garner

chokehold tight breathless
Quatie Ross

forced march cold
Kalief Browder

justice failed defunct
John Africa

city bombed at peace
Branch Davidians

siege burned with God

The Bison

plains emptied near-extinct

George Stinney Jr.

child fried dead as a doornail
Hiroshima

city vaporized extinguished
The Addict

drug war caged institutionalized
The Gazan

commerce maimed shattered
Marsha P. Johnson

river claimed disputed
Renee Nicole Good

mother killed by ICE Poet

Sheridan Walter (he/they) is a queer writer and doctor living in South Africa. He holds a master's degree in philosophy, and his work is forthcoming in Rogue Agent and Fruit Journal.

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Although the editors and audience of The New Verse News have a politically progressive bias, we welcome well-written verses of various visions and viewpoints.

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Monday, January 12, 2026

THE AMERICAN DREAM