Joshua Lefkowitz, “A Poem of Fact” – 1st Place Adult Award
A Poem of Fact
by Josh Lefkowitz
You think such things could never happen here,
Where (for the most part) people get along,
But tilt your head far Eastward – lend your ear
To China’s persecuted Falun Gong.
A peaceful practice of the mind and body,
Whose members grew 100 million wide.
This did not please the Chinese Commie Party,
And so they snuffed out all these folks (or tried).
Torture. Prison. Labor camps for months.
Organ harvesting (that’s true, I checked).
How crazy, you might think. But think too: once
Power corrupts – well, what do you expect?
So can one poem of fact help turn the tide?
Doubtful, thought the poet, as he tried.
* * *
Winner of the 1st Place Adult Award in FoFG’s 2017 Poetry Contest
Josh Lefkowitz won the 2013 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Prize, an Avery Hopwood Award for Poetry at the University of Michigan, was a finalist for the 2014 Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize, and won First Prize in the 2016 Singapore Poetry Contest. His poems and essays have been published at Barrelhouse, The Offing, Conduit, The Rumpus, The Huffington Post, and many other places. He has also recorded humor pieces for NPR’s All Things Considered and BBC’s Americana.