OWNERSHIP

by W. Luther Jett

Three people were arrested by Florida Highway Patrol Sunday evening at the Pulse nightclub memorial site, after witnesses say they again attempted to chalk the nearby crosswalk in rainbow colors that were recently removed by the Florida Department of Transportation.—Central Florida Public Media, August 31, 2025. Photo by Nicole Darden Creston/Central Florida Public Media: Early Sunday afternoon, a sign reading "Defacing sidewalk prohibited" stands next to an area of sidewalk chalked with the phrase "You can't erase us." Florida Highway Patrol cars are seen in the parking lot across the street behind the building.

There was chalk

on the sidewalk and they—

the owners of the sidewalk

erased it.

                    Then it rained

while the sun shone—

We all saw the rainbow

before they put up walls

to hide it,

                    But you see

no-one really owned that sidewalk—

no more than anyone could own

the sky where the rainbow 

shimmered.

                    And if anyone

ever tells you they have touched

a rainbow—they are not

being truthful.

                    But I have held

chalk in my hand, chalk

all colors of—well, you know

how chalk dust rubs off—

how it gets

                    all over everything.

W. Luther Jett is a native of Montgomery County, Maryland and a retired special educator. His poetry has been published in numerous journals as well as several anthologies. He is the author of six poetry chapbooks. His full-length collection “Flying to America” was published by Broadstone Books in 2024, while his most recent chapbook “The Colour War” was released by Kelsay Books in 2024.

THE DEAD WAKE

by W. Luther Jett

The Trump administration has moved to classify more than 6,000 living immigrants as dead, canceling their social security numbers and effectively wiping out their ability to work or receive benefits in an effort to get them to leave the country. —The Guardian, April 11, 2025

The dead brush their teeth,
drink coffee, stare
at the morning news screen.
The dead are the lead feature.
The dead take the crosstown 
bus to the factory, the fast
food place, the office. 
They send their children to school.
Are their children also dead?
No-one is certain. The dead
Call up their doctors, their
lawyers, their graduate advisors.
All the lines are dead.
The dead go back to work.
The dead receive paper cuts
and bleed. Their blood is red.
The dead walk among us.
The dead sit beside us
in the restaurant, on the 
underground, in the park.
You would not know,
to look at them, that they are dead.
The dead go home for supper.
The dead shower and go to bed.
There is a ship in the harbor, waiting
to sail away in the morning.
The dead will not be on it.


W. Luther Jett is a native of Montgomery County, Maryland and a retired special educator. His poetry has been published in numerous journals as well as several anthologies. He is the author of six poetry chapbooks. His full-length collection, “Flying to America” was published by Broadstone Books in 2024, while his most recent chapbook, “The Colour War”, has just been released by Kelsay Books.