A Poem Inspired by Brandt's
"nonresistance, or love Mennonite style"

freedom, American style

the consent of the governed to
kill to maim to destroy to be free
the unalienable rights of all men
but not women or blacks or
indians or jews certainly not
muslims the yellow will not run
this country we the people will stand
united in sloth and consent
it is the right of the people
to abolish an unjust government
but if you do we’ll kill you
and your revolution terrorists

This poem was inspired by the style of Di Brandt’s “nonresistance, or love Mennonite style.” I liked the way she did not use punctuation and instead let the thoughts flow, one into the next. This style gives many different meanings to each phrase depending on how it is read. As in Brandt’s poem, there is a clear way to read it, but the other possibilities hang on just long enough to tickle the imagination and give shadows of other intention. I also used Brandt’s technique of weaving in common phrases from the culture and the founding documents of the culture’s religion.