William Palmer – Writers Resist

that name

By William Palmer

tide in—

imagine
waves scraping away

that name
and the lies upon lies

that feed off it,
dissolving them in foam

imagine
the mugshot gone

the blue suits gone
the long red ties

around our country’s neck
gone

William Palmer’s poetry has appeared recently in JAMA, J Journal, One Art, On the Seawall, Talking River Review, and The Westchester Review. He lives in Traverse City, Michigan.

Image credit: Sean P on Unsplash.

A note from Writers Resist

Thank you for reading! If you appreciate creative resistance and would like to support it, you can make a small, medium or large donation to Writers Resist from our Give a Sawbuck page.

Welcome to Writers Resist, the December 2022 Issue

In case you didn’t know

Writers Resist celebrates each quarterly issue with a virtual reading, and you are invited to join us for this issue’s gathering.

Writers Resist Reads • Saturday 28 January 2023 • 5:00 p.m. PACIFIC

Zoom information:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88356614245?pwd=a1FRMndJYzI3VzE1Ym9yZUU2ODhHdz09

Meeting ID: 883 5661 4245
Passcode: 247349

In the meantime, we know the world is fraught with conflict, so give yourself the space to enjoy our December 2022 issue featuring works by:

Photo credit: K-B Gressitt

Hollow

By William Palmer

What happened January 6
was forgettably minor,
the most popular Fox host
claimed on June 9, the first night
of the House Select Committee’s Report,

so forgettably minor
he did not allow any
commercials during his show,
decreasing the chances
viewers might stray,

or might consider the view
that what had happened was
unforgettably major

and that the host
was therefore
lying

and that when they hear him
claim January 6 was not
an insurrection but simply
vandalism, they might
question what he says
in the future

and hear the thump
of his hollow heart.

William Palmer’s poetry has appeared recently in Cold Mountain Review, J Journal, One Art, On the Seawall, and Poetry East. He has published two chapbooks: A String of Blue Lights, and Humble. A retired professor of English at Alma College, he lives in Traverse City, Michigan.

Photo credit: John Spade via a Creative Commons license.

A note from Writers Resist

Thank you for reading! If you appreciate creative resistance and would like to support it, you can make a small, medium or large donation to Writers Resist from our Give a Sawbuck page.

Dead Man Votes in Wayne County, Michigan

By William Palmer

I found an old mask on the ground
and stood in line.

At a table I handed a woman a scrap
of paper with my name on it
and my old address. She scrunched
her face to check it while a big guy
behind her wearing a white mask
with red and blue firearms on it
told her to keep the line moving.
She looked at my old Ford Assembly Plant ID
and the guy told her again but louder.
She handed me a ballot.
I voted for Joe Biden.

I signed my name best I could
then walked out
before my legs caved to dust.

William Palmer’s poetry has appeared in J Journal, Poetry East, and Salamander. He has published two chapbooks—A String of Blue Lights and Humble—and has been interviewed by Grace Cavalieri for The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress. He lives in northern Michigan.

Photo by Josh Carter on Unsplash.

Stringing Them

By William Palmer

He catches them each day,
stringing them through their gills,

his trumpeteers
trailing in dark water,

mouths drawn open,
eyes puckered shut.

Photo credit: Helen Penjam via a Creative Commons license.