The night is a thief
In broad daylight.
Forget the truth is a lie
When stated outright
In broad daylight.
Forget the con is a blight
When played out
In plain sight.
Moving the thimbles
Hiding the blight
Is thievery.
Then, change the rules
To make it all right.
Filed under POETRY
How many deaths lie at the feet
Of a man of complete
lies and depravity?
Can any human conceive
men who lack all humanity?
The Emperor Wore No Clothes
but, only the child could see
through the pomposity
to the naked truth
that we cannot trust
ourselves.
If we cannot trust ourselves,
then whom can we trust?
This is the basis of democracy.
Every vote must count.
The young ones shout it out
above the crowd of those who doubt
and wither, while justice dithers.
Have we forgotten the lessons
if middle class construction
which formed the base
of The City On The Hill,
under which the bones of slaves
are buried?
Time to Build Back Better
and bury the depraved instead.
Filed under POETRY
The dream that is America
died during the night.
The right to vote
and have that vote count
was gone with the dawn.
While I was sleeping
Lady Liberty lay weeping
at the second insurrection
which eroded the protection
of the democracy
we rely upon.
Democracy was killed in dark of night,
the moon’s reflected light
not strong enough
to stop the rape
of her freedoms.
We awaken worn and weary
from brittle dreams
to a new reality
forged in heated nightmares.
Dreams fade over time.
Nightmares hang on.
How long before we forget
the dream that was America?
Rest In Peace, Lady Liberty.
I cannot.
Filed under Uncategorized
Saving face
By creating truth
Is the only means of escape
From harsh reality
For those whose core
Is thinned and weak
By lack of moral exercise.
Bread and circuse
Did Rome in.
History ignored
Is repeated evermore.
Distraction through attraction
Diverts the gaze, the ear, the tongue.
This is who we live among.
Doing what is correct
Does not reflect the Right
Constantly claiming false
It’s moral might
Over those whose outrage
Threatens their control,
Their wealth, their privilege.
New faces in new places
Where they were not allowed before
Distort the world view
Of the autocratic few.
It takes strong core
Muscles to stand tall
Before the attack of falsehood
Destroys us all.
Filed under POETRY
GRIEF LINES ABOUT THE BROW
1-15-2022
I held grief at bay
in tightened fists
determined not to allow
its escape, until I lay
it down upon the page,
Where it sapped my strength.
Taking up the pen
is little help today
when the nib etches lines
of grief about my brow,
too close to allow the flow
of ink upon the page.
Democracy means more to those
More recently saved upon its shores.
The lands of autocrats and hypocrites,
we thought, had been left
behind, beyond our pained sight;
now resurrected by the Republican right.
A Right reinforced by clerics bent
on reasserting ties long rent
between church and state,
Now reinstated by the Court
and pro-life misogynist dictum
making women victims.
The Right backlash to Obama
is a fierce and hateful trauma
which dares to take away
our diversity and our vote,
our personhood and culture,
our history and democracy.
Grief is still heavy today
but less than yesterday.
Today ink flows steadily,
freely, hopefully daring leaders
to find the courage to save the vote,
and this beloved country.
A life of pretense
may be the only defense
against our greatest fears.
Truth lies undercover
lest we discover
we may not survive.
Committees and newsrooms hold tight
to the knowledge
which would allow us to acknowledge
the big spenders and pretenders
of climate and democracy,
the hidden autocracy.
Pretense is a fist clutched tight
by the side
ready to fight
once fear takes flight.
Do not be fooled.
Hang tight.
Filed under POETRY
Out with the old.
In with the new.
Throw away society
Is nothing new.
Long lines of history
Started this brew.
Custom is not custom made
When everyone agrees.
No person better than another
If we could truly see.
Celebrations followed time
In its global rounds
Until the ball with all its hopes
Dropped roaringly to ground.
I wish you Happy New Year
Both with joy and dismay
That too many doors will shut again
On this new year’s first day.
Across the globe
We hear the whoosh and slam
of shutting doors and clicking locks
where too few give a damn.
On this day I resolve
To open wide my doors
And to welcome in with grace
Those seeking a safe shore.
JANUARY 6 INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE 12/28/2021
Secrets erode our fall from earth.
Heaven is too far to know
from whence we came
and how far we have fallen.
No one really knows
if truth be told.
That is a matter of faith
unsure
Unstable
unstoppable
like earth’s wobble
through endless space.
Despite the gravity of the situation,
or because of gravity,
still we fall
deeper into unknowing,
reliant on faith.
Perhaps senseless,
or at best clueless
until the secrets are told
and we able to behold
the truth
Filed under COMMENTARY, POETRY, POLITICS
FIND THE WORDS 12/27/2021
Sometimes there is nothing more to be said.
Words lie too pale
to leave a trail
on the page
for others to follow.
Thoughts are too hollow
to offer comfort or recourse;
too shallow
to ease pain and remorse.
One step at a time.
One word at a time.
One breath at a time.
One sigh at a time.
Not enough words to rhyme
nor steps to mind.
We falter and fail
hands gripped to the rail
too frail to climb up,
too weary to climb down. Undecided too long.
Afraid to be wrong.
How can we build back better lacking blocks to build letters
to forms words to create stories,
to restore narratives of glory?
Reset the game
we are determined to play.
Reset the rules
and restore the ante fools
have laid bare,
offering nothing but a prayer.
A prayer without words.
Find the words!
Tell the story!
Filed under POETRY
Lift Every Voice and Sing,by Louise Annarino,3-2-2013
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Filed under COMMENTARY, POLITICS
Tagged as Barack Obama, filibuster, obstruction, politics, racism, Republican Party