Free Press

Neither hat nor mask nor crown
I wear this newsprint
Like a pledge
Not to cover but uncover
What goes hidden
In plain sight
To use words like the lens
Of a microscope
That finds the invisible
Worm of contagion
In what seems transparent
Innocent as water
To use words like the lens
Of a telescope
Measuring the distance
Between worlds dying
And newborn
To use words like bridges
From dark confusion
To potential light
To use words like scales
Weighing lies and promises
To find words strong enough
To peel the scales
From my eyes

Free Press

And let me see at last
Another way
Out of these sour
And tarnished days
Into something rising
Bright enough for hope.