Fear and Disunity
“This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper…”
–T.S. Eliot – The Hollow Men
____________________
2016 – Fear and Disunity
This is how it begins
not with a whimper
but a bang…
A roar of rage and anger
long held in abeyance.
A quiet desperation
as factories close and
main streets shuttered.
As jobs disappear
to machines, to others,
into thin air.
In a year that’s divisive,
left-right, urban-rural, coastal-flyover
our differences and indifference
laid bare.
A demagogue who’s derisive
of women and minorities,
Authoritarian and temperamental
with skin as thin as paper.
A paper man, a straw man,
devoid of beliefs or intellect.
Yet, this is who we elect.
How forward?
With fear and resignation,
or cooperation?
Do we come together
as a people or stay
divided?
We’re stronger united.
But never capitulate,
Fight for rights
For the forgotten
And neglected.
Opposing fear and bigotry
We are better in unity.
Rail against blind ignorance,
In denial of science.
A backward step now could
leave us all in deep water.
When the Appalachians become
waterfront property
perhaps they’ll acknowledge
our effect on ecology.
Like frogs in the pot,
we’re all in hot water.
Jan 7, 2020 – Addendum – Requiem of a Nation
This is the way the world ends not with a whimper but a bang… *
In the waning days of failed leaders
And a fading empire,
Paroxysms of political unrest
and convulsions of violence.
Death throws of a superpower
Or birth pains of a
More perfect union?
About dpasquarelli
“birth pains of a more perfect union?” We can only hope.
I can’t think of a better way to describe the last 4 years than “…our differences and indifference
laid bare.” We’re not just overcoming those years, though they’re the exposition. I admire your analysis, even as we murk our way through.
You are amazing with words.
Thanks for taking the time to write.
“Death throws of a superpower
Or birth pains of a
More perfect union?”
Love that. Great piece.
Thank you.