Merril D. Smith

“Do not obey in advance.”
—Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

When they ban the books
and suppress the press–

I’ll whisper the words
lest you forget

the world’s not flat,
there are still facts,

there is still this,
despite the that.

For now, I titter at the naked king,
percolate slogans,
salt the air with slashing syllables and phrases,
ruminate,

Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum

Jubilate.

For now, I’ll laugh with you
and dance in the rain,

then dance some more for blue of sky
and for all the whens, despite the whys.

For now, I sip a fine Rhone red,
not to forget, to celebrate

how the grape lives on—transformed
as love is in memory.

For now, I’ll shout the call,
the world is on fire,
resist, rebel,

but seed my words so they will bloom
fragrant, alluring—but jaggedly thorned.

Merril D. Smith is a Pushcart-nominated poet who writes from southern New Jersey. Her work has been published widely in journals and anthologies. Her full-length poetry collection, River Ghosts (Nightingale & Sparrow Press), was Black Bough Poetry’s December 2022 Book of the Month. Her new collection, Held Inside the Folds of Time (Jane’s Studio Press), was released in autumn 2025. Find her at Bluesky: @merrildsmith.bsky.social; Instagram: @mdsmithnj; Blog: merrildsmith.org.

This poem appeared in What We Hold On To: Poems of Coping, Connection, and Carrying On — Winter 2026, 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.