pictured words

No Party for Me

I cannot vote for
killing babies in the womb
or outside the womb

killing grown babies
we send off to fight a war
to never come home

or come home missing —
pieces of themselves murdered —
never to come back.

I cannot vote for
babies who grew up to think
it is okay to

endanger those of
different cultures – cultures
they were taught don’t love

and that they are not
welcome to safety, if their
safety is near you

if their safety costs
dollars from a rich nation,
or even if not.

If their safety might
make you even just a bit
uncomfortable

then it isn’t worth
your time or your energy,
even if you find

it costs none of that.

I cannot vote for
babies who never grew up
never grew out of

thinking more highly
of themselves than others, and
showing it daily.

I cannot vote for
those unwilling to see that
some people need help

not because they are
unwilling to work, and not
because they’re lazy.

I cannot vote for
those who want to take away
American rights —

even those rights that
perhaps I disagree with,
or don’t understand. 

I have no party.
I have no candidate, but
I love my country

and I will fight to
hold fast the America
that’s slipping away.

© Marie Elena Good, 2025