April 20, 2025: Poem in the Shape of the Poet Beating Henry Kissinger to Death with Their Bare Hands, Felix Lecocq
Poem in the Shape of the Poet Beating Henry Kissinger to Death with Their Bare Hands
Felix Lecocq
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(Today's poem is shared as an image, and includes a transcription of the poem as alt text. If you're unable to see it, you can also find it transcribed below.)
US-funded projects addressing the ongoing impact of Agent Orange in Viet Nam (toxin cleanup, support for those with congenital disorders like the poet's) were disrupted by the abrupt dismantling of US foreign aid programming this year. Along with many others.
Today in:
2024: blessing the boats, Lucille Clifton
2023: Wound is the Origin of Wonder, Maya C. Popa
2022: When the Fox Comes to the City, Patricia Fargnoli
2021: aubade for the whole hood, Nate Marshall
2020: Keeping Things Whole, Mark Strand
2019: New Year’s Day, Kim Addonizio
2018: I Know You Think I’ve Forgotten, Jane Hirshfield
2017: The Writer, Richard Wilbur
2016: from Seven Skins, Adrienne Rich
2015: I Ask Percy How I Should Live My Life, Mary Oliver
2014: In the Park, Maxine Kumin
2013: To A Sad Daughter, Michael Ondaatje
2012: My Dead Friends, Marie Howe
2011: Staying After, Linda Gregg
2010: Dream Song 14, John Berryman
2009: What We Kept, Megan Alpert
2008: Please Take Back the Sparrows, Suzanne Buffam
2007: It Happens Like This, James Tate
2006: Tantalus in May, Reginald Shepherd
2005: September Song, Geoffrey Hill
A transcript of the poem text follows:
Text is in the shape of a standing person raising a fist in order to punch someone who is lying on the ground holding up their hands in defense. It reads:
hooking up with strange men on edibles is fucking awesome until you’re lying in his bed afterward and you can’t shut up about how much you want to hit henry kissinger over and over until he stops breathing. like, did you know that agent orange is apparently 100,000 times more potent than thalidomide at causing birth defects and to this day vietnamese infants have an elevated incidence of congenital disorders, including heart abnormalities, and like you’re not saying that henry kissinger is the reason you were born with a broken heart but wouldn’t it be so fucked up if he was and wouldn’t you then have every right to press your thumbs into his windpipe until he chokes to death and your hookup is like yeah you’re right that would be fucked up i’m sorry but what did you want to get i’m placing the order now and you say two spicy potato soft tacos please and you let him pay for it because he’s white and you’re too stoned to navigate venmo right now and it’s only like $2 but by the time the food arrives you’ve fallen asleep anyway, hand over your heart monitor, dreaming of kissinger’s blood dribbling out his mouth like hot sauce
Ice has cancer. His treatments are showing progress, but they're taking a toll on his body and his will to keep trying. Maverick encourages him to fight and supports him as much as he can, including taking care of him when he's too weak to shower and dropping everything when he has a fall. In the end, Maverick must come to terms with Ice's mortality and the fact that even Ice has limits to his strength.
Rating: G
Words: 5,119
Finally posting my angsty reflection on the old man icemav cancer journey! This is a reflection on Maverick struggling to accept that the treatments are pushing Ice to his limits. In the end, he must confront his own fears about death while also helping Ice get through the day by day.
I promised sad, and I think this delivers! I can't wait to hear what you guys think.
I just finished reading "In sickness" by @saintedcastiel on AO3. I loved it, and I recommend it to everyone who wants to read an angsty and toxic Destiel fic.
Requested by anon in which the tables are turned and you are taking care of a sick Charlie. Lots of fluff. No warnings.
**ANON, I hope you’re okay with me taking the liberty to just make your request a part 2.
A week later and Charlie’s prediction that you were going to share your sickness with him had come to fruition.
“Misery loves company, right?” Charlie mocked you before blowing his nose for what he could have sworn was the 8,00th time in the past twenty minutes.
You sucked your bottom lip in trying your best to hold back any laughter at his pathetic state. Charlie never handled being ill very well.
“I love you.” You quipped back at him as you lifted his head so you could sit down and placed his head in your lap. You brushed your fingers through his slightly tangled hair, lightly scratching his scalp as you did so. You could feel his body relaxing at the sensation but it only lasted for a moment before he erupted into a fit of coughs, making you feel extra guilty that you were the one that made him this way,You gently pushed his body up so he was sitting up and rubbed circles into his back until the coughing subsided. You pressed a gentle kiss to the back of his neck.
“Y/N…” Charlie whined and grabbed your wrist as you tried to get up. Your eyes softened as you looked at the boy with admiration. “I want you to hold me” he whined as you walked away. You couldn’t help the smile that took over your face at his plea but you knew he most definitely needed more than just a cuddle.
You shuffled through the kitchen cabinets and pulled out your favorite teal mug before moving to the next cabinet to grab a pack of chamomile teal and some honey. You put the kettle on the stove and moved to the sink where you fished a rag out of the drawer next to the sink and ran it under tap, ringing the extra water out of the rag afterwards.
A squeal from the kettle let you know that the water was ready for the tea. You placed the tea bag into the mug and poured in the water before adding a tablespoon of honey to help sooth Charlie’s sore throat. You grabbed a pack of crackers and the cold medicine from the cupboard before you left the kitchen with the damp rag and warm cup of tea.
When you made it back to the couch, Charlie had laid back down. He looked up at you with sad, puffy eyes. You placed the mug of tea on the coffee table along with the crackers and got on your knees in front of the couch, facing Charlie. You placed a hand on his cheek softly, Charlie turned his head into it and placed a kiss on your palm before turning to look back at you.
“I love you” you said again for the second time and pressed the cool rag to his forehead. Charlie sighed at the relief that it gave him and closed his eyes.
“Y/N?” Charlie’s hoarse voice filled the silence after several minutes.
“Hmmm…” you hummed back in response. Your fingers lightly tracing around the features of his face. Your touch was so light that he could barely feel it.
“Y-you know I’m not actually, like, upset with you about getting me sick, right?” He barely opened his eyes to look at you.
You cocked your head to the side and smiled at the boy “Of course, I know that” you affirmed and nudged him to sit up again before placing the tiny cup filled with the correct dose of medicine into his hands. Charlie stared down at it in disdain.
“Charlie, please...it’ll help, I promise” you pleaded with him.
He reluctantly threw back the medicine, his face screwing into a look of disgust at the cherry flavor. He handed the tiny cup back to you when it was empty and you placed it back on the coffee table before handing him the cup of tea.
He opened his mouth to whine again but shut it when he was met with your pleading eyes. Charlie slowly sipped on the honey and chamomile tea until he couldn’t stomach it anymore and handed the mug back to you. He definitely wasn’t going to admit that the honey coating his throat made him feel a tiny bit better.
You tried to hand him a few crackers but Charlie didn’t budge this time. “Y/N, stop making me ingest things...” he cried out.
You put your hands up in surrender and threw the crackers back onto the coffee table before leaning forward and placing your forehead against his, You both sat like that in silence for a few seconds. You could feel the heat radiating from him and hear the congestion rattling in his chest.
“You’re really hot, Char’” you muttered, a frown tugging at your lips.
“Well, duh. That’s why you date me, right?” Charlie joked, a small laugh escaping his chest before that too erupted into coughs. He winced as his throat felt like it was on fire again from the coughing fit. You reached into the bag of lozenges that was thrown haphazardly onto the floor and grabbed one out of the bag before unwrapping it and popping it into Charlie’s mouth. The cool rush of the minty lozenge quickly coated his throat.
You climbed back onto the couch behind him and pulled him by the shoulders until his back was pressed against you, his head laying on your chest. You gently brushed his hair back from his forehead and drug your pointer finger and middle finger of your right hand across his forehead in lazy circles.
“What’re ya doin, Y/N?” Charlie breathed out just above a whisper, his eyes closed.
You felt your lips curl up into a smile “I don’t really know” you confessed. “My mom used to do this when I was little and didn’t feel well, it was like magic every time...b-but I can stop…” you trailed off, suddenly feeling unsure of yourself. You didn’t really have much experience in taking care of anyone but yourself. Charlie reached his left hand up to his shoulder in search of your hand and intertwined his fingers with yours.
