Quotation

When Thunder Comes

Poems for Civil Rights Leaders
ELIZABETH RAMSEY BIRD
“When a cyclone flicked off the roof of my prison / like the Queen of Hearts, turning my life to shame / and candle, the General had a mole removed. / When they added four words to the constitution – / my name – to bar me from ever running for office, / the General signed it with his fingernail made of / diamonds and disgust.”