another nonet
Matthew E. Henry

an affirmative action hire
a multicultural hire
a diversity hire
an equity hire
a DEI… just
be honest and 
call me a
nigger,
please.

Matthew E. Henry (MEH) is the author of six poetry collections, most recently said the Frog to the scorpion (Harbor Editions, 2024). He is editor-in-chief of The Weight Journal, the creative nonfiction editor at Porcupine Literary, and an associate editor at Rise Up Review. MEH’s publications include Barren Magazine, Anti-Heroin Chic, Had, Massachusetts Review, Mayday, Mom Egg Review, Ploughshares, Redivider, Stone Circle Review, Terrain, Whale Road Review, and The Worcester Review. MEH is a high school teacher who received his MFA yet continued to spend money he didn’t have completing an MA in theology, and a PhD in education. He writes about education, race, religion, and burning oppressive systems to the ground at MEHPoeting.com

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.