Tag Archives: MAGA

DANCE IN THE RAIN

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If not too early, perhaps too late

rain falls through parched skies,

in drizzles and drips only;

clouds’ moist linings absorbed

by dried out cells

of the hydrogen and oxygen

we need to survive.

The train’s whistle blows

in drowned out gasps.

Wet skies hold back

the usual click and clack

of dry wheels over steel track.

Iron wheels now slip and slide,

a smoother if more uneven ride.

Wet nights lead to wet mornings

drowning our the train whistle’s warning

of all that is to arrive

during this election drive.

Tom-toms beat quieter drums

to speed up hearts 

and slow down minds

as the train approaches

the nations’s destination.

AI interrupts nature’s offer

to set things straight

without a factual bother,

as facts fall beneath

the slippery wheels,

and we are easily thrown off-track

unsure now what is fiction or fact.

We will all soon be mad as hatters.

Too soon, we wonder if anything matters.

After drought, roots unfold  soundlessly

and it is hard to hear the truth’s refrain.

Our senses our dulled by falling rain.

Our restless sleep disrupts our days.

We are lulled by quieter chants,

but nothing has changed.

Courage now, lads and lasses.

The polls await the arriving train.

We must vote, in sunshine or rain.

Open sad and tired eyes.

Listen with too-numbed ears.

The sounds may be different,

but not the refrain.

Time to vote the danger away.

Time to learn to dance in the rain.

Vote!

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DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

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Best to keep parched lips closed in the midst of drought.

When the rain comes, as it surely must, lips open wide,

with head tilted back, in a tumultuous shout.

Filling up with rain, one wet swallow can seem enough.

Memory quickly returns of a mouth full of dry dust,

reminding one a single swallow is not enough.

After thirsting so long words have grown tough

to swallow, feel bitter, feel wounded, feel flushed

where they would be drowned 

if only rain would fall down.

Still, the short rain is enough to stir us to our feet,

on the forward march to greener pastures,

cool beneath our bare feet,

taking their fill of all the rains 

that have gone before to make this place

one where one may stay to laugh and play.

We will not go back.

Tears of joy rain down now.

We swallow them whole, 

filled with power so bold

we believe we control

the weather.

We don’t, we know.

But, we can vote.

And our vote grows in volume

as word drops form streams

and create new rivers of dreams

that flow within oceans so strong

their freedom carries us along

to new and better shores 

where right overcomes wrongs.

Words fall like rain, again and again.

Dance in the rain and play

on the way to election day.

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HIDDEN TRUTHS

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On the lintel stone

of my grade school

above the entrance

children passed through

every day,

after we left church

where we gathered to pray,

were the words to guide us through

childhood to adulthood as the

the good sisters would say:

“Ye shall know the truth

and the truth shall set you free.”

Those words I reviewed

each night before I slept,

an examination of conscience

of my personal truth;

what I had done that day,

who I had shown myself to be,

to myself and others

I had met along the way.

Uneasy truths rose in my mind

of tasks left undone

so I could play;

unmet needs of others

who got in my way;

truths I wished would go away

so I could pretend to be

someone so much better

than you, and better than me.

It is not others we fear.

We only fear who we are,

deep inside 

where our truth resides.

So, we hide away from ourselves

and fear discovery

that we are truly

not enough:

not good enough,

not strong enough,

not smart enough,

not wise enough,

not wealthy enough,

not educated enough,

not employed enough,

not courageous enough

to examine our conscience;

to own our thoughts and deeds,

to own our responsibility,

to own our need for love,

for passion,

for resilience,

for endurance,

for persistence.

Better to take time

to watch the game,

to drink at the bar,

to take the drug,

to avoid all blame

for what we refuse

to give away.

And the only way 

this fraud can continue

is to become a con

like so many others.

Great con men become

our saving heroes

and allow us to blame

all The Others

in their name.

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BORN IN THE USA

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Being born in the USA

does not make me better.

It makes me luckier.

Winning the lottery

brings euphoria.

Sharing the winnings

brings me satisfaction.

That is love in action.

My question is always

one taught me by JFK.

Not, “what can my country 

do for me?”.

But, “what can I do 

for my country?”

The only way

to make America better

is to remind myself

I do not matter

more than any other 

American, immigrant

or refugee.

I do not matter 

more than any other

African, Asian, Latino

nor European.

Each of us hopes to be free.

Each of us has our own journey.

Some of us are luckier than others.

All of us are sisters and brothers.

My country is better

when I am better, kinder, truer

to the home of the brave

and the land of the free

where democracy demands

I stay on guard against those

who would embrace autocracy.

This is what America asks of me.

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THROUGH-LINES

Supreme Court Building 1 First by Carol M Highsmith is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

Before amendments,

only white men could vote

under a constitution meant

to protect white male power

and their wealth to control the hour.

The hours of Women’s Labor.

The hours of Black Labor.

The hours of Asian Labor

on railroads crossing the nation

with white men’s wealth protected

in box cars, from southern fields

and northern industries.

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Oh, we can easily see

why Originalist judges seek

to turn back time and make weak

the power gained by women’s suffrage,

African-American civil rights fights,

and Japanese reparation gains.

Each accomplishment a refrain

against white male supremacy.

There is a through-line of meritocracy

from serfdom and caste

until at last

white men must choose 

which they love more;

their country or their power,

their countrymen or their wealth.

There is no stealth 

as they seek to regain

what they once owned.

The rest of us!

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Think

“Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.” – Voltaire

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HOLY SATURDAY

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Time hangs suspended in the tomb,

rolled back behind a solid stone

chasing thoughts away

of what occurred yesterday.

Shrouded in a mystery

foretold by history

evil reaches across the space

where fearing loss of power

the great losers rage by the hour.

We helped create our own purgatory,

where all we do is worry

rather than embrace the true reality

we not so suddenly face.

We must roll away the stone

and bring truth home;

look at what we have done

and what we have failed to do.

The stillness of this day must renew

a strength we once embraced with pride.

Now we cower and we hide.

Are we so fearful and so weak

we dare not take a peak

into our shaking souls to see

the selves we have come to be?

Only we. Only we. Only we

becomes our litany.

Only we can stop the hate

that acts upon the institutions

we must rely upon

to uphold law and seek justice

to protect all of us

and this country we proclaim to be

the seat of freedom and democracy.

We must open up our eyes

and roll away the lies

that block this holy space

where salvation will arise.

Vote away the hate.

it is not too late.

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THE LIGHT WE REFUSE TO SEE

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I used to believe Truth lived in the shadows.

If only we could shine enough light,

then Truth would be set free

for all to see.

There are those who prefer we stay in the dark,

it is true. They fear the Light will open our eyes.

It is no longer so easy to darken the streets 

upon which we set our feet

hoping to reach a place of greater liberty.

Truth speeds around the world 

from one shadowed place to the next.

Through media Truth moves at the speed of light.

Truth seekers use facts to light our way

along the path to a new day,

one where Light holds sway.

The darkness can no longer hide Truth in shadow.

Those who live in the dark side of life

create new truths able to live in false Light.

In their constant retelling of lies

Truth simply dies in plain sight.

The battle between the Light and the Dark,

between Truth and Lies

is now exposed in MAGA prose

stealing the limelight with false praise

for oligarchs, autocrats and murderers

whose only goal is to control

the flow of wealth into their own pockets

while those who work to be whole

starve and struggle at their feet.

Those forced to  flee and seek amnesty as refugees

would add their story to our own 

brightening the Truth we already know.

The telling would not surprise the homeless

who walk our own streets.

The homeless, like Truth, used to hide in shadow.

We try to keep them there so we cannot see

the borders they have crossed.

Truth and Light and Love are all apiece.

Without Love we are blind and refuse to seeTruth.

There is no Light strong enough to overcome

deliberate blindness cushioned by lies.

We allow them in boardrooms, newsrooms,

hearing rooms and even, courtrooms.

“Speak Truth to Power,” isn’t that what we say?

When Power seizes the Light with falsehood

can we not see that False Light

can never be allowed to hold sway?

True Light is always more powerful than false.

Liars know this and ban books, and oppose

all who stand alight within Truth’s glow.

This is the one thing I still know.

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ELECTIONS 2024

Carnival rides at sunset by Marcus Burnette is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

The election year carnival has set up on the town square.

Hawkers shout from every tent, “come try our wares.”

Games of chance do not come free.

Choices are forced by our monetary needs.
Every player needs tickets to play.

Too few funds shortens the stay.

The House of Mirrors is on full display.

But the images inside are shattered in the fray

of fast-moving events and fast-talking cons.

Bombarded by fractured light we simply go on.

We get lost amid broken images

with pattern-less scrimmages

as we move through mirrored rooms.

Our hearts pound out a sense of doom.

Anxiety reigns.This feels like no game

that anyone can win, nor simply gain fame.

This House of Mirrors creates fear

and makes each step too dear

to waste on those seeking our vote.

We respond to the loudest note,

no soft word can compete

as we close our eyes and complete

the winding route to the outside.

Suddenly, we just want to hide.

It is all too much to pay attention.

We are as fractured as the mirrors we faced,

mirrors which displaced reality’s space.

Down is up and up is down.

We search for a safe space with none to be found.

We are surrounded by the false laughter of clowns.

All we once knew to be true is turned around.

We yearn for past days when we stood on solid ground.

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UNDERSTATED

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There is so little that is understated now.

No more elegant lifting of a single brow.

Excited stammers and caustic frowns

by the faithless Republican clowns

who mimic a man who would wear a crown.

There is no thoughtful, errudite display.

There is only posing false, and evil, play.

Trumped up hearings day-by-day

now hold sway hiding reality away.

He does not lead; but, is just a toy

they use as an effective ploy

to take away power from the many

so they can hold on to every penny

they have gained by writing rules

to benefit themselves and other fools

who overlook their history

and their sworn oaths and holy duty.

What games are played out every day.

While we are left to hope and pray.

And legislation is torn to shreds

that protected us lying in our beds

believing we could face another day,

and see more laws added to hold harm at bay.

They play on fears which they create,

their greed for money and power to satiate.

Vote before it is too late

and democracy is no longer ours to celebrate.

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