Second Coming No. 404 — February 27, 2026
A poem-a-day protest against the threat posed to our democracy by Donald Trump and his fascist regime
Christopher Barry
My Students Learn About Zyklon-B
It was all abstract numbers
in that way that history
can be when a classroom
is involved, but when they learned
the chemical was a product
made by a manufacturer
a few of them began to see:
there were products designed,
blueprints and plans created.
Everyone had a part to play.
Christopher Barry‘s poems have appeared in Discretionary Love, Feral, Sport Literate, Scavengers, Poet’s Row, and other journals. He lives in New Hampshire where he is a high school English and creative writing teacher.
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So important when a classroom can explore all the nuances of a topic, not just rote memorization of facts. When students realize they are agents in creating the future that they want to live in. Bravo for your work as a teacher, and as a poet.
Love this poem.