A New T-Shirt in Town

Betsy Joseph

June 29, 2022

There’s a new T-Shirt in town,

I was recently told,

spotted and modeled in Austin.

The letters on front screamed MAGA 

in large, bold print

causing double-takes, 

startled stares,

considerable harrumphing. 

In still quite liberal Austin

that acronym wasn’t especially welcome.

Not in this Texas city.

Suddenly laughter broke out in a ripple effect

as the wearer twirled in graceful circles

showcasing the slogan on her back.

“All right!” voices began to shout, 

fists raised upward,

applause erupting

as the crowd caught sight of the words:

Mothers Against Greg Abbott.

Tension abated, initial reactions dissipated,

the assembled turned mellow once more. 

For those Austin folks, on that spring-like day,

most welcome were those words.

Betsy Joseph lives in Dallas and has poems that have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies. She is the author of two poetry books published by Lamar University Literary Press: Only So Many Autumns (2019) and most recently, Relatively Speaking (2022), a collaborative collection with her brother, poet Chip Dameron. In addition, she and her husband, photographer Bruce Jordan, have produced two books, Benches and Lighthouses, which pair her haiku with his black and white photography.