Poems - January 28th, 2026 - Brandon Cole Ware

First they bent the truth,
and I said nothing.
It was only language, after all.

Then they taught us to
turn on one another, and I
stayed quiet.
It was only rhetoric, they said.

They taught fear to wear
the flag, and I watched.
It was not aimed at me.

When silence became the
law of the land,
There was no voice left to answer.