What if Tomorrow, I am Thankful for Voting

I write it down

in my journal,

and the pen answers

with dying ink.

Back in the booth,

my eyes grow tired –

How many times 

have you read the name

of a child murdered 

by a cop in a headline 

this year? [ ]

How many times 

have you read the names 

of children murdered 

in a school 

this year? [ ]

How much money 

do you think 

the average family owes 

to a hospital? [ ]

How many people 

do you see sleeping 

on benches in a day? [ ]

Do you think these issues

can be solved like this? [ ]

Do you think these issues

can be solved? [ ]

Who has a right to safety? [ ]

I am a small rabbit

shouting in a field, 

bullied by coyotes 

with frothing jaws. 

They snarl, wet

with blood money.

They know they own 

this place more than 

any other small rabbit. 

But millions of small rabbits? 

Can we shout until we’re heard? 

If so, who hears? 

Another coyote 

with slick tongue, 

hungry to deceive? 

They’ll eat us too. 

We need another million 

rabbits. We can dig

a hole and taunt 

the coyotes. Be quick,

we can bury them alive.

Binx River Perino is a queer poet from Texas. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College and is the author of his debut chapbook, Pure Light (Bottlecap Press, 2023). During his MFA, he was nominated for the 2023 Mass Poetry Community Award and his work found homes in new words {press}, Variant Literature, Cold Mountain Review, and elsewhere. He lives and works in Chicago with his dog, Maya.