Sunburnt / PRONOUNS
PRONOUNS
SHE
Lived in migrant labor camps,
picked crops from El Paso to Colorado.
Endured months of back-breaking work,
under the blazing sun.
Wanted better for her children.
IT
Shone brightly,
nourished the crops,
scorched her beautiful face.
THEY
Bullies and thugs,
hidden behind masks,
wore no identification.
Spread fear and intimidation.
Assaulted and shackled them,
frog-marched her husband away.
Zip tied her children!
THEY
Grifted and lied,
Planned for decades to take control with fascist laws.
Seized the courts!
Stripped the rights of many,
enhanced the rights of a few.
Are coming for our rights.
THEY
Need to get a backbone,
a strategy,
fight fire with fire
actions so bold!
Charismatic young candidates,
better messaging and slogans.
To pass amendments,
banish corporate lobbyists,
prosecute creators of Project 2025!
WE
Said never again!
What can we do to stop it?
We can’t do anything!
Sunburnt
Anna Whippen
Acrylic
WE
Must be vigilant!
Stay heartened!
Cannot be complicit!
Must dry our eyes and organize.
Pressure senators and congress people.
Turn up the heat,
hold them accountable!
Listen to alternative media.
Read!
Boycott, boycott, boycott!
Vote out the slackers.
Run for office!
SHE
Needs her children back,
her family,
her rights.
WE
Must hold our own feet to the fire!
I
Will do the same, or my name’s not Susan Maguire!
- Susan Maguire
About the Creators
Anna Whippen
Anna Whippen is a student at Ipswich High School. She received the 2024-2025 Art Department Award for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Arts and the 2025 Drawing Award for artistic excellence in drawing.
Her primary medium is acrylics, she creates expressive portraits in her unique style. She also enjoys crocheting and beading. She works in pottery and sculpture, experimenting with a variety of glazing techniques.
This summer she is attending a pre-college program at Montserrat School of Art in Beverly where she will continue to build her portfolio.
Susan Maguire
The first time Susan Maguire marched against injustice, was when MLK was assassinated in April, 1968. She has been fighting for peace and justice ever since.
Susan graduated from college in May, 1968 and by October was in the Peace Corps teaching English to high school girls in Afghanistan. After that she taught English to Iranian students for four years in Iran.
These experiences inspired a lifelong career of teaching and publishing in the field of ESL.
In Peace Corps training Susan lived among farm workers and their families in a migrant labor camp in Colorado. They had been picking crops from El Paso to Colorado. The person in the painting Sunburnt reminds Susan of one of those workers.
Susan is writing two memoirs, Afghanistan Escapades and Iran Escapades. Pronouns is her first published work.