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Showing posts with label Marilyn Letts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marilyn Letts. Show all posts

Sunday, July 28, 2024

DANGEROUS STORIES IN THE AMERICAN PSYCHE

by Marilyn Letts




When I was a child                 in the 1970s

            I lived in Calgary

            I heard Jesus died for me at Calvary

I spoke as a child                     “Are they the same?”

            People laughed, showed me a globe

            Israel on the other side 

I felt as a child               when in the Bible, God said

            Don’t touch my chosen people!

            He meant me and Israel

I thought as a child                 Israel

            in the book of Exodus & the Calgary Herald

            fought their enemies, yet again

When I became a woman  the texts (and the news)

            read genocide  

I put away childish things   and grieve



Note: Italicized phrases in the poem reference 1 Corinthians 13:11, 1 Chronicles 16:22.



Marilyn Letts is a poet and writer who loves to experiment. Her poetry publications include FreeFall MagazineFeathertale Review, and Other Voices. She lives on the traditional territories of the peoples of the Treaty 7 region and the Métis Nation of Alberta, Districts 5 & 6.