Rachel Armes-McLaughlin

Days like today
it feels like all’s about to end.

The earthquakes with thousands lost.
The floods, never seen before.
The fires consume forest and home.

Democracy gone.

Then nights like tonight, there’s hope restored:

Cory Booker on the senate floor,
making history. A record broke.
Wisconsin, fighting back against purchased votes.

Blue Violets at the park,
and news of a new, unexpected home.

The battle, uphill–but hope.

Hope.

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.