Only Pose What I Know
(2025 Chicago poetry tour edit)
Janet Kuypers
8/12/25 (from a 7/21/22 poem)
Journalism blood runs through my veins —
So, seeing the stack of states — surprisingly
High — that already had “trigger laws” to
Further suppress women’s rights if Roe v.
Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court,
Seeing the swath of Southern States made
Something click in my head: time to look
Up “bible belt” states, and the numbers
Matched up close to perfectly. But then,
One more thought crossed my mind:
Which states by the Civil War supported
Slavery? Now, this sounds harder to
Research, since at our country’s founding
Presidents had slaves, their status as being
Three-fifths of a human being was written
Into our very own Constitution, but find
Info in 1861 when the Civil War began—
And what do you know, Ani, correlations
Truly abound. Now, as I said, I’ve got
journalism coursing through my veins, and
I’m just trying to see how pieces fit together,
And boy, do they ever. Is this more evidence
That those who continued to believe that
Blacks were slaves come from the same
Regions that socially conservative Christians
Thrive? Now it’s time to bring the story
Around to demoting women by overturning
Roe v. Wade, loved by these same states.
No, I may not have proof. I’m no Dixon Hill
Or Sherlock Holmes, but... now that I mention
It, I believe Sherlock Holmes was known to
Say whether inductive or deductive reasoning,
Eliminate all other factors, and the one which
Remains must be the truth. So, as a Journalist,
It’s not my job to tell you what to think. I
Only pose what I know, and you can decide.
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