Mona Lisa

More often than not,
Our heroes discover
Running into danger
Antagonizes
Leaders who avoid it.

Instead of praise,
Near-sighted autocrats
Judge according to optics,
Urge us to see all sides.
Righteously indignant,
Yet indifferent to suffering.

A friend of Mona Lisa’s once said, “You’re officially a shit-magnet” in the most caring way possible, to which she replied, “But I’ve handled all of it.” Handling it has included teaching football players to love Shakespeare, raising two profoundly decent humans and several rescue animals, and launching a second career in healthcare at 47. She lives where the heat and insects match her relentless determination to prove that she’s got everything under control, and she’s learned that sometimes, burning bridges is the only way forward.

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.