☀️ The Raft Weekly (1/31/26): "Declaration of the United"

an erasure poem + a call for non-celebration

The Raft Weekly is the Saturday newsletter for the online community of author Phyllis Cole-Dai. Ride the river of a creative life, buoyed by her latest writings as well as nudges for your own expressive practice, boosts of curated poetry and music, and more.

☀️ If your email provider cuts off The Weekly’s content due to length, read it online. The online post also preserves the poem’s original formatting.

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DECLARATION OF THE UNITED
 
                   An erasure poem by Phyllis Cole-Dai
                    based on the Declaration of Independence 

We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all are created equal,
endowed with certain unalienable rights, 
among these
life, 
liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness—
 
That to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted,
deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed—
 
That whenever Government becomes destructive
it is our right as a People
to alter or abolish it,
and to institute new Government 
to effect our safety and happiness—
 
It is our duty.
And such is now the necessity.
 
To prove this, 
let facts be submitted 
to a candid world:
 
          The present king has refused his assent to laws, 
          the most wholesome for the public good;
 
          obstructed the administration of justice;
 
          made us dependent on his will alone;
 
          sent swarms of officers to harass us,
          protecting them from punishment
          for any murders; 
 
          transported us beyond seas for pretended offences;
 
          established an arbitrary government 
          and enlarged its boundaries 
          to render it a fit instrument
          for absolute rule.
 
His cruelty and perfidy,
scarcely paralleled, 
is totally unworthy
the head of a civilized nation.
 
Our repeated petitions
have been answered
only by repeated injury. 
 
We, therefore, solemnly declare 
the Free have full power 
to levy peace
and establish right.
 
For the support of this Declaration,
we mutually pledge to each other
          our lives, 
                    our fortunes
                              and our sacred honor.
 
 
An erasure poem by Phyllis Cole-Dai based on the Declaration of Independence in advance of its 250th anniversary (July 4, 2026). May all people of conscience refuse to celebrate America’s birthday until the nation’s government is firmly committed to our founding ideals and worthy of our principled, vigilant, striving trust.

As always, you’re free to share my work with friends, on social media, and so on (with attribution). Please contact me for publication rights.

Every damn day.

Pardon my language, but at the moment only a good swear word will do. (Besides, I reckon you’ll forgive me.)

Every damn day I get up to more “cruelty and perfidy” committed by our government. Masked agents of our government are intimidating and brutalizing and murdering and kidnapping and disappearing people across this country …

I feel so helpless. Don’t you?

Yet words are a powerful form of resistance. (Just ask Tom Jefferson and his buddies about authoring, and signing, the Declaration of Independence.)

This week, after the execution of Alex Pretti (what else can we call it?), the Muse made me stop trying to write another piece. It demanded that I create this “Declaration of the United.”

Unlike other erasure poems I’ve done lately, this one doesn’t turn an existing text against its own apparent purpose, as an act of literary jiujitsu. Rather, it condenses the revolutionary (if flawed) birth document of the US, dramatically spotlighting it as a living text that remains crucial for us today.

It’s perhaps punchier than the original Declaration because of its brevity; perhaps more eye-catching as a poem than as a political tract. But like its precursor, it’s meant to make the situation plain, while also stoking the fires of resistance.

If you sympathize with the “Declaration of the United,” I invite you to sign your name in the comments, big and bold, à la John Hancock. I also urge you to share this poem with your friends.

We’re all in this together.

Let’s conspire to give every damn day our best damn self.

P.S. Don’t make too much of this, but I’ve been noticing names lately. Among the government players involved with ICE operations: trump, bond (Bondi), gnome (Noem), and wall.

Among the dead: good and pretty.

☀️ Following the Muse’s nudge, choose one or more lines of the “Declaration of the United” as inspiration for any kind of creative work that might help you express your own grief, shock, anger, or other emotion related to current events.

☀️ Click on the links to access the resources.

• Poetry: “Lacrimal Gland” (Ellen Rowland)

• Poetry: “Protest as Prayer” (Dave Joseph, Jr.)

• Spoken-word poetry video: “Movement” (Minor Disturbance). Note: turn on closed captions if you want to read as well as listen to the text.

• Vocal music: “Simple Gifts” (Yo-Yo Ma & Alison Krauss)

• Vocal music: “Minnesota Anthem” (AI + unknown Swedish composer). Thanks to Rafter Daniel McKinley. He also sent Bruce Springsteen’s Streets Of Minneapolis.

• Instrumental music: “Following the North Star” (Rhiannon Giddens)

• For peace’s sake: I ain’t sayin’ what it is but enjoy.

☀️ EVERY NON-HOLIDAY THURSDAY: Poetry Pick-Me-Up (Zoom, 1-2PM ET, 12-1 CT, 11-12 MT, 10-11 PT). FREE! A casual poetry-sharing and discussion group. Bring a published poem that you’ve recently read to share, or come simply to listen. (Please, no original poetry.) Just hop on the Zoom at this link.

• Can’t make it to PPMU? The replay will always be waiting in the “Catch Up!” archive.

• Click here to view this week’s PPMU.

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☀️ My profound thanks to these Rafters who recently gave a contribution in support of The Raft: Joanne Draper, Janice Fialka, Kristine Haig, Tiffany Lichlyter, Ramona McKenzie, and Julie Roehm.

☀️ Become a Raft patron with a paid subscription, or just click the coffee cup to buy me a coffee—black, with a dollop of chocolate syrup! Grateful, grateful!