07/29/2026
This may be poetry, but it’s as political as it gets. What a picture Jenny Keener paints of our esteemed governor (yes, sarcasm). But she turns quickly from humor to horror. Read at your own risk. If you don't know the story behind the poem just google WV House Delegate David Pritt sexual abuse. Find Jenny on Substack. Subscribe and get an incredible and poem almost every day.
Could’ve Done
Holler Politics
Jenny Keener
Jul 29
A child was hurt.
Before the coal dust settled
on the golden dome,
before her people
had learned
how to breathe
inside the shape
of what comes next,
our Governor
pulled his pants up all the way
to the New Jersey Turnpike
and
waddled out
to remind us
the man accused
had once
been a socialist.
As though asking
a teenage girl
for photographs
of her body has a party.
Dear God,
how did we fail
another child?
Our representatives
could’ve spent
the whole last session
asking how children
slip through
grown folks’ hands.
Do our schools
have enough counselors?
Do CPS workers
have enough time
to know the children
behind the paperwork?
Does Mamaw
have enough strength
to carry
what opiates
laid down?
Do teachers,
coaches,
and pastors
know what grooming
looks like
before it becomes
evidence?
Are the school clothing vouchers
fully funded?
Instead of looking
toward a wonderful future,
we made sure people
must have ID to vote.
Truly, we had over a hundred
election-related bills.
We found time to debate
problems we could
barely see,
but not enough time
fixing the problems
suffocating our children.
Funny thing
about smoke.
You can’t breathe.
It keeps your eyes
blinded,
fixed on the air.
You hardly notice
that big ole’ house
burning
to the ground
behind it.
Because if we’re afraid
of building a world
where children are
safe,
fed,
clothed,
then maybe
it isn’t socialism
we’re afraid of.
Maybe it’s loving
our neighbors
so completely
it starts
costing us
something.
-Jenny
