Putting concerns into verse

As Kentucky Poet Laureate, I’ve been struggling to write an op-ed piece addressing an issue of our time. The problem is that everything is tangled with everything else in this bizarre and perilous moment.

Where would a person begin? And how would she deal with the fact that by the time her words are written, another catastrophe will have happened or another outrageously unethical and antidemocratic statement will have been cheered?

Given this situation, here’s what I came up with:

Trumpty Dumpty sat on his wall.

Trumpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All hatred’s horses

And all money’s men

Couldn’t put Trumpty together again.

Here’s hoping it proves true.

For all our voices,

This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Putting concerns into verse."