Presented without commentary.

Why That Nice Christian Boy Stuff
Never Works With People Who Pay Attention

When they say nice christian boy
I remember that
nice christian boys pillaged villages and raped villagers
for kings and popes
&
nice christian boys kidnapped and enslaved
a whole continent of people
&
nice christian boys notoriously hung strange fruit
all across town squares and front yards
& 
nice christian boys were fond of +s doused in kerosene
and inflamed in neighbors’ yards
&
nice christian boys use dumpsters to hide their assaults
&
nice christian boys wrote backstories with cats o’ nine tails
&
nice christian boys become nice christian men who take
nice christian boys to take a knee behind altars
&
nice christian boys celebrate kids in cages and violations
of various and sundry commandments
&
nice christian boys shoot up salons and cinemas and nightclubs
&
nice christian boys are always only white
&
nice christian boys never live up to their namesake
&
i know i know
“not all” and “that’s not christian”
but when it’s a nice christian boy holding the gun
or the knife
or burning the cross
or kneeling on the neck
or waving flags of war losers
or suppressing the vote
or hurting children
you do not say
murderer
rapist
racist
white supremacist
terrorist
you say
nice christian boys

©David Siller – 2021

*****

For the first 100 days of the Biden administration, this website will feature a new poem of What’s Next!? These pieces can be calls to action, calls to attention, or calls to anger. They will light the way and guide the fight. They will get us moving and keep our momentum. They will be filled with hope, with anger, with sorrow. They will get us into good trouble and point out the trouble we need to stop. They will be polished gems, or rough-cut drafts of rage, or in-process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered.

#100Days100Poems of What’s Next!? wants your poems, your prose, your visual art (photos, drawings, sculptures), your music, your short films and animations. Interpret the theme as broadly as you’d like.

If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with your visual art (as .jpg or .pdf) or your poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. Include a short bio (2-3 sentences) and social media/website information. All rights remain with the author. Please address any formatting preferences in your email. Waxyandpoetic.com will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day beginning 20 January 2021.

Read, follow, share, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !