{"id":137990279,"date":"2025-02-01T15:19:57","date_gmt":"2025-02-01T21:19:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/?p=137990279"},"modified":"2025-02-01T15:19:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T21:19:57","slug":"poetry-from-banned-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/poetry-from-banned-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetry from Banned Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a list of “naughty words” floating around<\/a> that apparently, government entities have been asked, in a very Orwellian directive, to expunge from their trainings, documents, and websites. Having looked at this list, I think those who’ve issued the directives might be better served by simply shutting up altogether.<\/p>\n

Words, Words, Words<\/h2>\n

Here’s the list (so far) if you’re wondering why so many government websites are not working well today. I wouldn’t know where to begin, were I given the monumental task of removing words like “access” and “binary” from a user’s guide. I might gamely try, though, if I were feeling particularly subversive. The words “malicious compliance” spring merrily to mind. I just learned that term, yesterday. Also encountered, this week, were the delightful phrases, “Go f*** yourself sideways with a porcupine” and “You rank and wretched puke horse.”<\/p>\n

ability
\nacceptance
\naccess
\naffirmative
\naggression
\nallyship
\nandrogyne
\nasexual
\nbelonging
\nbias
\nbinary
\nbisexual
\nblack
\nculture
\ndeia
\ndiscrimination
\ndiversity
\neeo
\nempathy
\nempowerment
\nequitable
\nequity
\nethnicity
\nfairness
\ngay
\ngender
\ngender dysphoria
\nhandicap
\nhomosexual
\nimpartial
\ninclusion
\ninclusive
\nindigenous
\nintersectionality
\nintersex
\njustice
\nlgbtq
\nlgbtq+
\nlgbtqia
\nmulticulturalism
\nnative american
\npansexual
\npower dynamics
\nprivilege
\nqueer
\nrace
\nredistribution
\nrepresentation
\nsafe space
\nsocial justice
\ntrans gender
\ntransgender
\ntranssexual
\ntransvestite
\nunder served communities
\nwhite<\/p>\n

There are so many things I could say about each of these, but I will leave it to your imagination. I’ll admit to a small chuckle at the thought of having to delete all of the “white papers” that have no doubt been written at taxpayer expense. All reference to the “Department of Justice”? Gone. Pretty sure the Supreme Court is rolling nine pairs of eyes right about now. “Access” and “binary”? How will the techs maintain the computer systems, once all these words have been redacted or expunged?<\/p>\n

Poetry from Putrescence<\/h2>\n

Instead, I thought these words should live and thrive\u2014that they would make great prompts for my fellow poets! Here’s one of mine, so far:<\/p>\n

Pondering Matthew 6:14<\/h3>\n

What\u2019s empathy but an ability
\nto look beyond our biased binary
\naggression: us or them. No nuanced choice\u2014
\ndiscrimination hears no reasoned voice.
\nDeath doesn\u2019t ask consent, gives no respite
\nfrom wanton acts of bigotry and spite
\nDestruction answers; it\u2019s affirmative\u2014
\ndiversity is dead. Alternative
\nideas like equity not welcome here.
\nConform at once\u2014or die, and disappear
\nlike fragile words that fall from satellites,
\nare lost to censored silence, endless nights.
\nThere are no underserved communities
\nwhere allyship from privilege is a tease.
\nThis conformation culture must please God
\nbut I think their Christ might find it very odd.<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/p>\n

As always, if you’re up for the challenge, please join in the fun – comment here with your poetry or a link to where we can all find it. And if you have the time, please read my latest piece on Medium, “There’s No Such Thing as Sex, Now.<\/a>“<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a list of “naughty words” floating around. Let’s turn them into poetry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137990280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_has_post_settings":[],"wds_primary_category":11,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11,7],"tags":[2730,2725,2737,2738],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-137990279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-op-ed","category-poetry","category-writing","tag-poem","tag-poetry","tag-political","tag-satire"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 09:51:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137990279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137990279"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137990279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137990283,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137990279\/revisions\/137990283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137990280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137990279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137990279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137990279"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=137990279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}