Poetry: Deserve

A/N: This poem appears in the zine "The Politics of Shelter," produced by Brackish Daughters and available for purchase on Etsy.

Deserve

I have a thousand words to say

about being a rural Appalachian

who always votes,

despite never seeing any positive

results in my home region

for my efforts, so

when you say I voted against

my interests, I suppose I can agree.

After all, I voted for Clinton

In the general election and what

Was she ever going to do to end

The generational poverty,

the lack of affordable healthcare,

the public apathy toward the lower

class, please.

I knew when I cast that vote

that I was wasting my time

but I had to try,

anything was better than the great

orange hope. So many of my people

did not vote at all,

too used to politicians making promises

they can't keep. Yet, you say that we

get what we deserve

for voting against ourselves.

We, who powered your homes

and helped keep

progress moving forward,

we who let you stand on our backs

to reach the sun while

our fathers gave it up to mine underground,

to feed us with the pennies they managed

to scrape together.

We deserve what we get, you say,

but I say that we have never gotten

what we deserve.