by Zumwalt
The White House's new site about 'aliens' has nothing to do with UFOs. —NPR, June 3, 2026
It's a historical fact:
the indigenous American
during the colonial invasion
couldn't leverage AI to code html,
didn't have an alien tip line,
never created Alien and Sedition Acts,
didn't irresponsibly fabricate statistics,
didn't automate tribal dehumanization.
No, these early Americans
didn't call others "It"
as in "we will take care of 'it'
and return it to 'its' place of origin."
"Origin," a well-chosen word:
like the origin of infection,
the origin of contamination,
the origin of outrage.
The new settlers have the newest tools
to influence a receptive audience:
memes to maximize malice,
maps to marshal marginalization,
media to market malignity.
The means to turn others in—
besides a group to hate,
another group to join,
and providing perpetual propaganda—
there must be a way to inform,
conveniently, anonymously,
one that instills a sense of pride
for an act of persecution:
the bright red button at the White House website.
the indigenous American
during the colonial invasion
couldn't leverage AI to code html,
didn't have an alien tip line,
never created Alien and Sedition Acts,
didn't irresponsibly fabricate statistics,
didn't automate tribal dehumanization.
No, these early Americans
didn't call others "It"
as in "we will take care of 'it'
and return it to 'its' place of origin."
"Origin," a well-chosen word:
like the origin of infection,
the origin of contamination,
the origin of outrage.
The new settlers have the newest tools
to influence a receptive audience:
memes to maximize malice,
maps to marshal marginalization,
media to market malignity.
The means to turn others in—
besides a group to hate,
another group to join,
and providing perpetual propaganda—
there must be a way to inform,
conveniently, anonymously,
one that instills a sense of pride
for an act of persecution:
the bright red button at the White House website.
Zumwalt's poetry feeds on alienation, shifting reality, and forced
adaptation. Zumwalt, a proud repeat contributor to The New Verse News,
has recently been published in Light.
