“Juneteenth”

By Bud Sturguess

I captained 83 feet of the Clotilda

I drew 13 stars on the Stainless Banner

I put a chain on Emmett's body

(I call him Emmett – I know him well enough)

I did all these things

when I grew silent

300 pounds of rust

bathed in the glow

of the 6 o'clock news

(Editors note: For more information on the Clotilda,
see the article by National Museum of African American History and Culture.)

Bud Sturguess: “This poem was written in 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. It began to sink in that being silent about  the oppression of Black people in America was akin to being complicit. So, the "I" in the poem is one person who feels that by turning away, they might as well have taken part in steering a slave ship, in an unprovoked police shooting, or other crimes against People of Color. The narrator sees their silence and apathy as complicity in different incidents in American history."

Bud was born in the small cotton-and-oil town of Seminole, Texas. He has self-published several books, including the novels Sick Things and Saint Calvin the Cannibal. His poetry and fiction appear in New Pop Lit, Ekstasis Magazine, and Longleaf Review. Sturguess receives a disability pension and collects neckties.