James Brumbley Jr.

It’s never real until it happens to us.
They come in the night and take strangers.
Hard-working people trying to get by,
in no better positions than everyone else.
We don’t speak up because it’s not anyone we know.
They come in the day and take our neighbors.
Familiar people we borrow things from.
We say nothing because it isn’t our problem.
They come to our home and drag away those we love.
The people we care for are taken away.
We say stop and for our dissent we get dragged away too.
It’s real and it will happen to all of us.

James Brumbley Jr. is a writer who focuses on short stories and poems about current events, with his writing centering on systemic issues that impact people. He is a library worker and also organizes fundraisers for local nonprofits and community organizations. He enjoys reading and favors genres such as alternate history, dystopian, and thrillers.

This poem appears in Uprooted: Poems of Resistance, Witness, and Survival (The Chaos Section Poetry Project, Fall 2026). We’re sharing each poem from the collection individually over the coming weeks. You can read the full book or download the free PDF here.