democracy de minimis

“You’re not scared. You’re just
grieving. No one tells you
humans that your sorrow feels
like fear.”
The Grey Lady

Fedrik Backman
The Deal of a Lifetime

i
you are an exceptional
man––

not a good man––
not a smart man––

but a man with a hungry
craving for attention
& an astonishing instinct for
control––

ii
you are guarded by your
wealth & an esteemed
team of lawyers
who protected your ass like
a miracle

iii
you have a carnal
character &
no patience with
integrity

you were granted,
by birth, wealth enough
to buy your own rules––
erase your own
wrongs

iv
a rich rich man
is a dictator

v
in our free society––
there are few forces that resist
money––

there is so much greed––
& so much need in so many
hearts

vi
when people are
afraid––
they yearn for a testosterone
god––

too much has changed
for them––
too much is changing––

they need/are ready
to believe in a
savior––
no longer in their democratic
selves––

YOU CAN DO IT!
for us

vii
your ego
stiffened––

a joke became an
obsession––
& your ego lusted for
all the power
in the world

viii
you are
a man with neither
conscience nor
compassion––
who never knew
morality––

your ego is
blind
the harm you do
endures

ix
to be or
not to be?

thou shalt be
angry

confront, belittle, insult
thy neighbor

be very afraid

x
is America dead?

xi
maybe
this house divided against
itself
will no longer
stand

xii
there is so much good in
these United States––

however
corrupted by the powerful
for the sake of
power

xiii
donald j. trump is a
cynical oligarch
of a severed
nation

will the people
awake in unison?
or flail each other
pointlessly
in endless social
pain?