Blasphemy by Valerie Parente

If we keep calling different phrases blasphemy, then
we rid the world of artistic masterpieces…

For nothing is more forbidden
than forbidding words
and nothing is more convincing
than scapegoating a curse;
You give the curse word conviction
when you veil it from the world
so don’t you dare claim indifference
to the power of linguistic terms;
With this tongue, I say, good riddance
to the censorship of artistic forms
you no longer need to be hidden
from man’s constraints and curbs.

– Valerie Parente (3-8-2024)