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Prose of a Con

Poetry and Prose by Russell Wardlow

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Hollow Symbols

June 30, 2022 by Russell Wardlow Leave a Comment

empty symbols
without a cause
except to push
the rhetoric
of America’s deceptive vision
and elusive agenda
of equality and hope

I wasn’t too enthused
when we had the first
Black and Asian Woman for Vice President
I seen it all before
she stood for so many things
that the thing she represented
was still being misrepresented
a symbol for Black peoples
a symbol for Asian peoples
a symbol for intercultural relationships
a symbol for migrants
a symbol for women
and while she stands there in office
life hasn’t gotten better for any of those groups
and women have taken a step back
per Roe V Wade
and the progress she represented
was still misrepresented
into the rhetoric of change
but the preservation of the same broken system
she used to be a prosecutor
and maybe you can’t truly understand that
until you have been a victim of the justice system
but I had to act as if I was happy
as if this great milestone symbolized a giant leap
into the new free and expanded world
that it always was
yet continues to get minimized into the parameters
of European comfort and readiness
yea empty symbols
fool and keep hooked the ignorant
who lack courage or understanding
to look beyond first glance
always manipulated by their emotions
and die a thousand times
for the cause of a cause

Filed Under: Trauma

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Prose of a Con

Prose of a Con is a collection of Russell Wardlow’s prose and poetry written entirely behind bars. Through writings on family, spirituality, freedom, love, justice, redemption, and vulnerability, Russell seeks to show the humanity and hope of individuals like himself who are incarcerated.

Read More

  • Whose Mind is it Anyway June 30, 2022
  • Objects June 30, 2022
  • Same Thang, Different Name June 30, 2022
  • Optical Ill-lusions June 30, 2022
  • Hollow Symbols June 30, 2022

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