Silence Is Consent: New Anthology of Resistance Poetry
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ONLINE READING SERIES
Here are some (mostly) online readings who welcome words of resistance (as well as words of cake, and flowers, and love…)
Note that times are listed in the zones where the readings originate, so you’ll need to adjust for your own time zone.
If you attend one of these events, please let them know you heard about it on the Resources for Resistance page.
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To submit a reading series to the list, click here for all of the necessary information.
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SUNDAYS
SECOND SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH
Uncloistered Poetry Online
6:00 PM Eastern Time
via Zoom
Event page listed at https://www.facebook.com/Uncloisteredpoetrytoledo
Two features and an open mic
Register for the zoom link on the Facebook Event Page
Open Mic signup link on the Facebook Event Page
Hosted by Uncloistered Poetry
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MONDAYS
FIRST MONDAY OF JANUARY, APRIL, JULY, and OCTOBER
Lehigh Valley Poetry Virtual Salon and Open Mic
7:00 PM Eastern Time
via Zoom
Zoom Link
Open Mic with no feature
Open Mic reading times around 5 minutes
Open Mic signup picked by hosts during reading
Hosted by Lehigh Valley Poetry
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SECOND AND FOURTH MONDAYS OF EACH MONTH
Bird and Beckett Online Open Mic
7:00 PM Pacific Time
via Zoom
Zoom link
2nd Monday highlights 2 featured readers followed by Open Mic
4th Monday is Open Mic only
Open Mic signup done by host during reading
Hosted by Bird & Beckett Books
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TUESDAYS
EVERY TUESDAY
Cobalt Poets
7:30 Pacific Time
via Zoom
Event page listed at https://www.facebook.com/groups/cobaltpoets
You must have your real name on your Zoom ID
Suggested to add “(new attendee)” after your name the first time you attend
One feature and an open mic
Open mic reading time: “2 poems maximum. Suggested time limit is ‘less is more.’”
Sign up in chat at start of reading; earlier slots go to those who join zoom at 7:15
View live and past readings at https://www.facebook.com/groups/cobaltpoets
Hosted by Cobalt Poets
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WEDNESDAYS
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THURSDAYS
SECOND THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH
Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
7:00 PM Pacific Time
In person
Art At The Cave
108 E Evergreen Blvd
Vancouver, WA
One featured reader plus open mic
Poetry and music
Sign up in person
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige
for Printed Matter Vancouver
“Our reading has been proudly been anti-fascist, anti-racist, pro-science, LGBTQ+ friendly, all ages, and uncensored since 2004”
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FRIDAYS
FIRST AND THIRD FRIDAYS OF EACH MONTH
Thee Virtual Open Mic
6:00 – 7:30 PM Pacific Time
via Zoom
Zoom link
Open Mic with no feature
Open Mic reading times 5 minutes or less
Open Mic signup here: http://tiny.cc/c2yd001
Hosted by Rich Oak Events
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LAST FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH
The Friday Collapse
6:30 – 8:30 Pacific Time
via Zoom
Event page listed at https://www.facebook.com/collapsepress
Usually two features and an open mic
Open mic reading time 4-5 minutes unless crowded
Sign-up sheet posted on the event page Discussion tab a few days before the read
View live and past readings at https://www.facebook.com/collapsepress
Hosted by Collapse Press
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SATURDAYS
EVERY SATURDAY
Poetry, YES!
2:00 Pacific Time
via Zoom
Event page listed at https://bruceisaacson.substack.com/publish/posts
Email Bruce to get on the link list or join on Substack
Usually a feature or deep dive into a topic, then open, 1 poem each
Just show up and you’ll be asked if you want to read in the open
We are a writing group encouraging poets to try new material so we don’t record
Hosted by Bruce Isaacson, Poetry Promise, Inc. a 501C3
“Lately we’ve done two sessions on Nazim Hikmet, so we’re resistance oriented. Next week we have Joan Larkin. May 10 Marge Piercy. Lots happening.”
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ONE-TIME EVENTS
Saturday, June 21
2:00 Pacific Time / 5:00 Eastern Time
via Zoom (link coming soon)
Panel discussion of the Silence Is Consent anthology (see below)
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NEW ANTHOLOGY
Silence is Consent: Edited by Christopher Bogart
In an interview on Meet the Press, Amanda Gorman said “Poetry has consistently been the language of a people. I think it’s the reason why, when there’s protest, you will hear metaphor. You will hear they buried us, but they didn’t know we were seeds. The reason that there’s a poem and not a 36-page essay at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty, when we are trying, as a people, to speak to our best shared common humanity, typically, poetry is the rhetoric that encapsulates that the best.” This anthology of poetry by 120 American Poets speaks to the American Conscience. The poems in this anthology are as diverse as the poets who wrote them. Represented in this anthology are native and naturalized Americans, LGBTQ+, as well as people with a variety of religious, ethnic and regional backgrounds.
Click here for the Amazon page.
Click here to read the amazing cento by Dan O’Connell using lines from every poem in this book. (This will take you below the list of reading series.)
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CENTO AGAINST the trump regime
All lines, phrases and words are from Silence is Consent – a poetic anthology
for poets to speak out against and in resistance to the agenda of Donald J. Trump,
edited by Christopher Bogart (2025).
Author’s Note: In this cento I sought to create a poem that captured spirit – the angst and anger, the
compassion, and the humor and hope – within the anthology as a whole. At least one line or phrase
or single word was used from each poet. I hope the individual authors are happy with the result,
even if their words may have been moved into a different context. Numbers identify the page number
from where the lines in this poem were derived.
Future generations will look: 349
aliens come from other worlds. 348
They brand us felons 342
and the mob demands 336
“America,” 327
endless, monstrous. 326
Where in my heart can I find refuge now
since hate has gripped the world? 322
A US flag upside-down – a signal of distress. 313
The American people tossed and crushed by the orange wave. 308
The Orange Fecal Monster is back. 38
Progress reversed with the stroke of an idiot’s pen. 43
Coup to reinstate an orange plague. 48
Dudes vote for the penis amendment. 106
End of democracy. 36
Death comes to me. 81
O’er the ramparts some could see red glare of looming bigotry. 304
Therefore, Power to the People. 303
If we don’t ask for, no, demand it: 307
tariffs, tariffs, tariffs, 299
a blazing stateroom of clapping blonds, 295
they stop a car, 291
we watch as mute spectators 280
before a uniformed figure
begins the night stick beating 277
with police batons. 179
Billy clubs smash windows, bruise eyes, break bones. 156
There is always work to be done 274
in the rubble. 14
Watching black smoke billow from the high rise, 269
black poems pour from the air everywhere. 268
Freedom has left the building. 267
Reporters deemed the crowd stunned. 264
Nightmares of the news at 9. 95
More at eleven. 266
Others found ways to keep what they wanted, 253
as awful humans will, 263
beneath a banner of fiscal necessity, 251
shielding his own interests….. 251
while a wannabe dictator, 58, 249
greedy for power, 249
the grand grifter, 248
the bumptious bloviating bully, 248
dressed in an orange diaper, 52
loose-lipped TV show president, 245
devil, racist, rapist, 245
white supremacist, 32
sinful, sadistic manager, 159
malignant narcissistic personality, 126
tyrant, 90
reckless bully, 196, 115
Agent Orange, 38
mendacious president, 281
Orange Awk, 194
their leader who they are certain will make everything right, 243
portly orange king filled with waste, 168
a novice, 246
infected pustule, 239
deadly clown, 317
coward-leader, 260
clown ringleader, 120, 147
embarrassment of the world, 114
the Unmentionable, 237
He Who Shall Not Be Named, 118
the emperor of naked lies, 237
faux leader, false messiah, 212
forked tongue snake oil salesman, 100, 210
stubborn turd, 104
crack in the Liberty Bell, 121
dung flung at the Statute of Liberty, 121
does whatever the fuck he wants. 172
He doesn’t give a sh*t. 169
Morning news:
market crashed, 90
a woman in South Africa who will die, 154
test center closed, 81
no money for school lunches, 159
powers evict a pregnant woman, 227
billionaire feeding frenzy, 204
cancelled vaccines, 197
pardons cascade upon citizen villains, 187
fallacies compressed over feces, 102
undocumented fears, 185
homes bombed overnight, 229
looming men so alike in cruelty 220
an orange stops being one, 218
silence, 174
a new dark age. 199
Now, with dishes to wash, bills to pay, 19
think of Star Trek and Deep Space Nine,
anything to distract me from dwelling on
his evil eunuchs 159
and his minions 74
masturbating to kiddie porn, 70
poised to keep inventory low
and millions in their pockets, 74
angry men, spiders, snakes. 132
Where in my heart can I find refuge now
since hate has gripped the world? 322
We live in a time of upheaval, 5
our nation is a mess, 341
we need a transfusion. 2
He won. 1
The Orange Fecal Monster won. 38, 1
53% didn’t even vote. 143
The wax and wane of powers. 276
Massive demonstrations. 40
You can be sure the next time I saw him,
I’d punch him in the mouth.
I wouldn’t try to get along. 111
Last night my right hand went out to kill somebody. 143
Where in my heart can I find refuge now
since hate – fixing me in crosshairs –
has gripped the world? 322, 176
Still, the heart floats – whispering its truth, trembling,
refusing erasure. 15
Let poetry cleanse the literature of the illiterate;
Let poetry cure its readers of their rage. 166
On January 6, 2026, a spacecraft landed
on the White House lawn.
“The Donald” sat in a corner labelled “Go to Jail.” 52
TRUMP ceased to be president. 214
Future generations will look: 349
aliens come from other worlds. 348
Who were they – these aliens we so feared? 29
We are beautiful. Alive. 192, 145
© Dan O’Connell, April 2025
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