Writing in the dark
is hard, requires balance,
leaning on insight.
Things do not smell right
despite heightened sense of smell
and story to tell.
Writing in the dark
makes hard to appreciate
journalists who fall.
Things are now hidden
behind false information.
See? Nothing at all.
And, so it goes down:
free speech, free press, redress.
Democracy Dark!
Newscasters used to tell it like it is.
Now, they are opinionated forecasters.
They still tell us who.
They tell us who said why.
They no longer tell us
what, when or how.
That would expose the lie.
No wonder we are demoralized
within both its meanings,
no surprise.
First losses began long ago:
No more manners as a guide.
No more conscience to lower pride.
No respect for others.
No authority recognized.
Second losses are less discreet:
No longer safe in thoughts nor words.
No longer safe on our own streets.
No more hopeful for the best
when every known fact is put to the test.
No more law and order.
Due process now out the door.
Demoralized beyond repair?
The people rise, at last, at last?
Not in anger and outrage.
Peacefully assembling on marching feet.
Nuns, priests, ministers, imams and rabbis
offer a morality well-intentioned if incomplete.
But this is how our story goes.
We are not perfect, heaven knows.
Our moral code is soft and flexible.
Our democratic republic makes it workable.
It offers a way to respect ourselves and one another;
to recognize all as sister or brother.
Immorality is what we see, and vote for?
Approve of, and laugh about too obviously?
See where we have led ourselves and our country,
fueled by wantoness and greed.
Demoralized we may be.
Still a people willing to fight to remain free.”
“NOLITE TE BASTARDES CARBORUNDORUM.” – Handmaid’s Tale
The monarchs are back
after an arduous journey
from, of all places, Mexico.
Monarchs will leave, eventually.
We now have a monarch in D.C.
who also road in over Mexico.
Unlike the butterfly
which sips nectar and gathers pollen
to leave the garden better and intact,
the D.C. monarch calls flowers weeds
in his obstinate refusal to face facts
and cuts every bloom in the garden back.
He leaves the soil once rich and black
lie fallow so the garden cannot grow back.
This monarch guards his new wasteland
that those who come to take his place
can plant their own seeds
of power and greed.
The monarch will leave as all men must
beneath the weight of soil, and those who lust
for power will take his place in the dead of winter,
and amidst the death of democracy inter
our constitutional republic.
Gardens need much more than monarchs to thrive.
It takes great effort to keep freedom alive.
annarino writes 