You see the shield with the star and stripes

You find comfort in the impenetrable fiction.

You wish you had a wall between

You and them, you and it, you and him.

Lay down not just your sword,

The words you brandish,

The tweets you send,

The silent, desperate betrayals.

Lay down your shield, too.

Go by the river side and

Study war no more,

Lest we all prepare not for peace,

But for more of the same.

Lay down your shield that divides

You from them, me from you.

Lay down your shield that blunts

Your feelings and your expectations,

That dulls the edge of hope.

Lay down your shield that screens on screens,

Tallies in functions,

Sorts, like Minos, life in values.

Take heed, not cover;

Take chances, don’t cower;

Take the hand, not the handle;

Take it all back.