Just…Hush

You’ve said more than enough.

Hush. You haven’t said a useful word, and yet — Cacophonous silence drowns coherent thought, Sucks oxygen and sunlight from the room. So hush now! Thanks to you — our nails, Our lungs, our lips are turning blue.

Hush. Your word-salad, dog-whistle-dressed, Compost-heap of jumbled insults flung Against our ears, not enough orange Polyurethane puffy stuff to stuff This evil “genius” back into the bottle.

Hush. Before my white-hot urge to tell you to do The anatomically impossible overrides civility, Before the good and Godly manners Mama instilled Before her heart was stilled, become Too burdensome to bear. Hush! Dear Christ —

Just…hush.

A different take on Geetika Sethi’s poem, and challenge, at

Somehow, I wandered around aimlessly and found myself smack dab in the middle of the land of “Mansplaining Meets Racism.” After a few pointed retorts that likely fell on deaf or defensive ears, this is what came of it.

Holly Jahangiri is the author of Trockle; A Puppy, Not a Guppy; and A New Leaf for Lyle. She draws inspiration from her family, from her own childhood adventures (some of which only happened in her overactive imagination), and from readers both young and young at heart. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, J.J., whose love and encouragement make writing books twice the fun.

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