Last weekend we gathered in worldwide protest, and that was wonderful and cathartic. But now what? I share my complaints with my senator, Republican Susan Collins, and receive a canned response. I sign White House petitions, but our signatures seem to mysteriously vanish. I stand here, angry and committed, but also aware that I am invisible. And as much as I clamor, I know that anyone who wants to avoid me can just close the curtains.
Yet this man, whom I cannot call my president, who is nobody's president, who is a puppet and a maniac, is now Tweeting about sending federal troops into Chicago, the city where my own much-loved son works and walks. I cannot close my curtains against Trump, as much as I despise the sight of him.
I don't know what we can do. I don't know what I can do. I talk and talk. I sign and protest. I make myself a gadfly. And his response? Even as he closes his curtains, he will do all he can to destroy what I value most: Air. Water. Kindness. Tolerance. Altruism. Lives.
You, who read this letter, most likely share some or all of my panic. Right now I feel that our legal allies are our best hope. Journalists have been crippled; scientists ignored. But the law remains . . . for the moment.
And a poet can still write a poem. So I did. Share it, if you think that can help.
* * *
The Spoils
Dawn Potter
clammy with rot
like a dead goat in summer
a stink so foul the river
curls up in her bed and groans
the earth splits like a bad melon
as you crow It’s Fine! It’s All Fine! So Good! The Best!
Just remember
it’s you that every
god hates
5 comments:
I am feeling the same type of paralysis; what concerns me especially (although the list is growing longer by the second) is that our legal representatives, whether we like them or not, are not being consulted. All of his hatred, vindictiveness, and arrogance are being acted upon unilaterally. Congress is hamstrung entirely by his use of executive order. This is a dangerous situation: he truly has an "off with their head" mentality, and he is running amok unchecked, because our system was set up with checks and balances, but for stable people.
I am scared.
I am praying for our safety.
Bravo, Dawn! Well spoken. We are all feeling momentarily powerless as this idiot, who has claimed the highest spot in the nation, rules without regard to anything most people hold dear. His next step will be to declare himself king and order us all to watch the coronation.
I agree, it is frustrating to sign petitions, to call, and/or email our senators and feel as if it's so much fluff tossed into the wind, while DDT (Dangerous Donald Trump--poisonous to the planet) signs executive order after executive order. I think we have to continue to do everything we can think of to protest. I have never been an activist, but Nov. 8 2016, (my birthday!) I became one. I will stand up and speak out against all of this mess, my chant will be No More Than Four, and I will work with any and all who are willing to fight as well. Strength in numbers, strength in women--we birthed children for crying out loud, we can defeat this bug.
I feel the same and am experiencing the same re petitions, etc. This morning, I tried to send an e-mail in protest to the White House; it couldn't go through. It also seems no one from the outside can post on the WH Facebook page.
Today are the reports on reviving the black sites and on immigrants (he's even targeting legal immigrants). I'm working with an Iraqi family who made it here in December. I worry for them.
I made a vow to not stay quiet. To be quiet is to tacitly accept what's going on. I refuse to do that.
The other night I had a dream that it took the military to go in and remove him and his Nazi minions.
Excellent Dawn! Lee, like you, I have never been too much of an activist until now. I especially like DDT as a moniker...very apt.
It is hard to imagine what "the Feds!" will have to do when they get here. The president-elect wants to flex his newfound powers, and to show off a little. (Astuter Obama realized it was common knowledge that a variety of powers inhere in the office itself.)
At best, it should prove to be an expensive waste of taxpayer money. At worst, well, who knows? The president-elect seems intent on finding ways to squander America's "blood and treasure" more bigly, to say nothing about reputation.
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