I was lucky enough recently to join a community set up for the sharing of ideas with other poets, writers, musicians etc. so we could take each others work and create new paintings, demo signs etc for the second No Kings Day.

AMERICA 2026: A USER’S GUIDE

They will say “Freedom“

Like it’s a brand name.

Like it comes prepackaged with an anthem.

And a pair of boots (made overseas).

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But you know better. You’ve felt it.

Freedom isn’t surveillance with better marketing

It isn’t red, white and blue flash bangs

Disguised as parades.

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They don’t teach you this in school

Because it doesn’t fit on a standard test.

Democracy isn’t something you inherit,

It’s something you build… Then rebuild.

And then defend with your whole damn soul.

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So:

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When they build walls at the border,

High enough to scrape God’s face,

You leave your porch light on.

You bake extra bread.

You learn to say “Welcome” in 10 different languages…

And mean it. 

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When they outlaw assembly, you gather anyway.

In living rooms. In libraries.

On sidewalk thick with riot gear breath.

When they rewrite history, you write it back. 

On bathroom stalls,

On your grandmother’s voicemail,

In margins, on street corners and cyphers.

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There are no kings here. Only mirrors.

Only questions such as:

What kind of country would call itself free,

But then silence its own heartbeat?

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Look…

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Every school board meeting is a revolution in miniature

Every librarian who won’t pull the band book

Is a warrior.

Every sunflower planted in the shadow of a drone

Is an act of refusal.

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This is not a manual.

This is a mixtape for the days when it’s hard to remember

That kindness can be resistance too.

But the real anthem is how we hold each other

When no one is watching.

(c)HiramAspliff