• Roberta Beach Jacobson loves words, from poetry, flash fiction, song lyrics, to puzzles. She edits two poetry journals: Five Fleas Itchy Poetry and smols poetry journal. Her latest book is Demitasse Fiction: One-Minute Reads for Busy People. Roberta lives in Iowa (US) with her husband and three cats.

Oy, There’s a Parade Today

It’s July 4th (not like the others),
what are we supposed to do?
As we try to honor our freedom,
a gray cloud seems to silence us
We can’t celebrate our diversity
as, again and again, it gets insulted
We want to believe things will get better in time,
that we’ll regain some of the ground lost
Our history and herstory will be restored
and yet, on this holiday, here we are