Rachel Armes-McLaughlin

The whole world holds its breath.

Who’s next to be grabbed off the street
by those in plain clothes with masked identities?

Sent to a prison, a camp, a painful death.

In the 1930s, by train.
But now sent out by air, held aloft by hate.

Sent by air, like the virus they’ve tried to erase–
not through vaccines, but censorship.

Through scrubbing, but not of hands–
of internet sites, banned books, and lists of dirty words
like diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The whole world holds its breath–
The insanity must end.

Rachel Armes-McLaughlin has written poetry for nearly 25 years. Her work is published in Loblolly Press; Middle Mouse Press; Medicine and Meaning, where she has reviewed poetry; and a Central Arkansas Library System anthology, with one poem nominated for Best of the Net. Rachel lives in the very red state of Arkansas with her husband, Jack; daughter, Isabelle; and cats, Wednesday and Mera. She attended her first protest in early 2025 and is looking forward to soon attending another.

This poem appeared in Record of Dissent: Poems of Protest in an Authoritarian Age — Summer 2025, published by The Chaos Section Poetry Project. We’ll be featuring each poem from the collection individually in the weeks ahead. You can read the full collection or download a free PDF of the chapbook here.