Russell Dupont

Do you suppose he smiled
when he ordered Troopers
to deny water to migrants
in the blazing heat?

Do you suppose he laughed
when he heard that,
on his orders, bloodied
women, children, men
were forced, pushed
back into the Rio Grande?

Do you suppose he snickered
when he heard that a woman
and infant girl were found
drowned near the razor wire
barrier he had erected
across the Rio Grande?

Do you suppose he leered
when he shrugged off
the massacre of five people,
labeling them “illegal immigrants”?

See him sneer and turn his back
when the woman stuck at the barrier
cries, “Help me. Help Me”
as he smirks and mutters
“Make my day.”

Russell Dupont is the author of three novels, a short story collection, two collections of poetry, and four chapbooks. His work has been published in numerous journals, including the albatross, Spectrum, The I, For Poets Only, The Anthology of South Shore Poets, Mozaic Daily Jazz Gazette, Re-Side, Oddball, JerryJazzMusician, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Rye Whiskey Review, Last Stanza Poetry Journal, the new post-literate, DADAKU, One Sentence, the Northern New England Review, Verse-Virtual, The Lothlorien Review, Pick-Me-Up Poetry, Silver Birch Press, The Poetry Porch, Tell-Tale Inklings, Concrete Formalist Poetry, The Prose Poem, Rockland Rhapsody, and Cold Moon Journal.

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.