End-to-End Encryption

Abstract

End-to-End Encryption Benjamin Aleshire (bio) Blink once if the situation takes a turnBlink twice if the courts throw out the ballotsBlink three times if the Oathkeepers keep their oaths Whistle a verse of The Man Who Sold the World if you think we can make it to the door Wear a red carnation if the aristocrats harvest billions from us during a plagueWear a white carnation if the Senate majority whip is a Confederate cadaver mid-putrefactionWear a yellow carnation if you would let Joe Biden huff your daughter's hair Fill my glass with your left hand if we can trust the militaryDrop your napkin on the floor if you think we can make it to the border Kiss my left cheek if we can stab it with our steely knives but we still can't kill the beastKiss my right cheek if it is not a metaphor anymore Squeeze my hand under the table when you want me to flip the table over [End Page 285] Benjamin Aleshire Benjamin Aleshire is a working-class writer and artist from rural Vermont. He travels the world as a poet-for-hire, composing poems for strangers in the street on a manual typewriter. His work has appeared in The Times of London, Southern Review, Iowa Review, and Lit Hub. Ben's debut manuscript, Poems for Bystanders, has been a finalist for prizes at Alice James, Sarabande, and Four Way Books. Copyright © 2024 Pleiades and Pleiades Press