Warning

Piotr/Adobestock

POETRY FOR INCLUSION

We are revisiting this gutted space
Intellectual freedom tremors with chronic angst
Growth for knowledge halted in the name of indoctrination

We are revisiting this gutted space
Othering controls the delusional narrative
Access to new ideas is the epitome of First Amendment paradox

We are revisiting this gutted space
Policing words is easier than people
Exposure to lived experiences lead to reader indigestion

We are revisiting this gutted space
Learning is replaced by selective banning
Darkness climbs a hill not envisioned by Gorman

We are revisiting this gutted space
The baffled bookhoard that seeks
belonging on society’s shelves

Dedicated to the censoring of Amanda Gorman

Dr Clark is an outpatient psychiatrist at Prisma Health-Upstate and clinical associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Greenville. He served on the American Psychiatric Association’s Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry, and he currently serves as the Diversity and Inclusion section editor and advisory board member for Psychiatric Times^TM.