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Standing in line to vote,
I see you ahead of me,
your MAGA cap
left in the pickup truck
parked beside my Camry,
where my BETO
button takes a rest
from this week’s
grocery store
politicking.

You turn
to the manicured
pastor beside you,
slapping him
on the back
as you two laugh
over a joke about Jesus
meeting illegals
at the well to lead them
back across the border.

The whole room cringes.
Eyes burn and knots
rise in the throats
of all those who hope
decency can prevail.
Slowly we move forward
to show the clerk who we are.
Marching to a machine
that asks for choices,
I make my mark.

Indelible
in the hippocampus
is the laughter.

by Anne McCrady

Newslinks: Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Huffington Post

Audiolink: SoundCloud