Jo Galvez

my english teacher told me to limit my use of em dashes

my CNF professor said, don’t start your sentences with ‘and’

my supervisor reminded me to avoid passive voice

the first I don’t follow – why should I?

the second I will break now and then

the third I follow like religion

the active voice sounds better,

more direct, more dynamic,

more human.

while i’ve had many teachers and supervisors,

they neglected to teach me

that genocide has a style guide.

step one is to call them animals

step two is to make them violent

step three: don’t say who’s doing the killing

step four: stretch your limbs before writing

and the most important step: use passive voice.

passive voice serves their purpos

to deceive, divide, dehumanize

evade accountability

poison minds

let people turn a blind eye

and all of my mentors taught me how to write well

but i wish they taught me more about synonyms—

that silence and violence are one

and the same.