Dissent

DISSENT is a book of sequential loose sonnets written by two poet friends (Nalley, Brant Freeman) over six weeks in response to events leading up to Inauguration Day, 2025.

The poems in this book discuss reproductive rights and the loss of them, the sexualization and subjugation of women, mental health, urban sprawl, deforestation, habitat destruction, menopause, Congress, calls to arms, billionaires, unqualified people in power, and laundry. In a time when we are constantly bombarded with word salad designed to deflect and confuse, we need poetry of protest to help us focus.

Nalley and Brant Freeman started writing this series of poems, now the book DISSENT, as a way to maintain sanity and to take action. As two southern mothers, one born and raised, one a 25 year transplant from LA; as two mothers of five young adults trying to make sense of this America; as two lifelong educators always on the brink of bankruptcy trying to stretch one paycheck to meet the next; as two women navigating the loss of rights and of estrogen; they are uniquely paired to speak their truth in this moment through poetry.