Katie Kemple
For whom is the war over?
The Taliban say the war is over
The Americans say the war is over
The war is not over
for journalists in hiding—
for activists fearing for their lives—
for … Read more
Front Page
In today’s news, the president pulled his army’s troops from a
middle eastern country because their soldiers were always high
and didn’t fight like a terrorist takeover was imminent. So … Read more
Out of sight
What’s the difference between
eviction and our sad condition except
that the former gives birth to the latter?
Behind me – if I am still visible – is
the house … Read more
Fall of Kabul
640 bodies with only room for 150
Bodies crushed together, waiting, hoping, fearing.
Desperate
Bodies trampled in a stampede
Bodies punctured by gunshots
Bodies falling from the sky
Evacuated schools. … Read more
Redundancy
I am the aftermath
of the pandemic
I am the unwanted guest
who created havoc
changed people’s
life upside down
I took you out of
the comfort zone,
made you … Read more
Pyrophytes
“Pyrophyte: Any plant that is resistant to fire,
or that needs fire to propagate.”—Wiktionary
This morning I’m breathing smoke
from forest fires two thousand miles away
and the people who … Read more
Humane Killings
For Howard Debs
Wire Cutter Magazine gives the best advice
About how to kill black ants that have invaded
Your home. And though ants aren’t as bad as lice,
they … Read more
Bad Policing
Should we still identify them as the police?
Patrol the streets for “harmful” black flesh
Bullets and tasers they quickly release
On melanin ones, they chase or catch
Do they … Read more
Dispatch from the West
It’s fire time again.
So far so good.
Fog in the mornings
Erases the trees.
Shafts of sunlight
Break up the mist,
All of it, … Read more