by Lonnie Buerge
After a Border Patrol agent killed Alex Pretti, Attorney General Pam Bondi tells Minnesota to hand over its voter roll to “bring an end to the chaos.” —Mother Jones, January 27, 2026
Hand over the lists
they say.
Hand over the lists
of the people
who vote.
Hand them over.
We just want to help.
We just want to be of service
to democracy.
Hand over the lists
and we will leave you alone,
get off your necks,
quit murdering your people,
you can stay safe.
Just hand over the lists.
Just hand them over.
Give them up.
Give them.
Give.
Give them to us.
Keep yourself safe,
Hand them over.
The trains are waiting.
Lonnie Buerge is old in chronology but young in poetry. He has spent the bulk of his career and accounting in the petroleum industry but has enjoyed reading and writing poetry intensely for the past 14 years. He is involved in coordinating the Ginny Soldner Poetry Collaborative in Aspen, CO. He is, unfortunately, not much published.
