Immigrants and Neighbours: the Dirty Duo

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If Serbia had had immigrants at the time Archduke Ferdinand was shot in 1914, perhaps World War I would never have happened, for immigrants would have been blamed, not Serbians. I have this feeling that neighbours who blame their immigrants for their national ills keep at peace. What do you think?

At the national picket of the unhappy
I see large crooked coins
Hoisted like placards above the irate crowd.
On the first face, I see immigrants & owls embossed,
And on the second, snakes & neighbors.
It's the coin they toss
To divine the wellspring of troubles
That every day beset this broken nation.
It turns at every toss to land first face up
When crime is up and jobs down.
The oracle, I know, holds the second face in reserve
To deploy on that day to come 
When the homeland is rid of strange hairs and noses 
But crime is still up and about 
And jobs still down and out.

Yes, when immigrants are gone it'll be neighbors in the dock
Taking blame for all national ills.
History will stand witness 
As the whips and stones that now descend on immigrants 
To break their bones and spirit 
Give way to tanks and missiles
Sent forth to break bone and spirit 
Across the trampled borders
To the east, west, and south 
Previously crossed by immigrants
But now crossed by armies.

Wisdom beckons to the clueless right
But her call they will not heed.
With glee they hasten to their likes across the border,
Carrying their precious coins in tow
With which they purchase glib excuses 
To explain away all national failure. 
How little they know that when their deed is done
And all immigrants gone
We'll be back to war, war, war
As of yore,
When the homeland had not strange hairs and noses
To take away from neighbors the blame for national ills.

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Indiana Shaw

Date: 8/12/2022 2:33:00 PM

When a person has an education on life, let that person write on . . . : )

Anne-Marie Coreggia

Date: 5/15/2017 8:00:00 AM

This a great poem. Indeed how easy it is to toss that divisive coin. But it is not always the desired effect that is achieved. I think that the mounting debt that strangles us earlier and earlier in life has a lot to do with our fears; and because of that we are sometimes easier to manipulate:) Amitiés

Agona Apell
Date: 5/21/2017 12:17:00 PM

Demagogues excel at explaining away failure and fear by pinning it all on one convenient scapegoat. They know only too well how reluctant we are to accept responsibility for our failure. So if we are beset by debt, immigrants can be sacrificed to carry the blame... Nice of you to drop in, Anne-Marie! Many thanks for the kind words.

Doug Vinson

Date: 3/24/2017 4:44:00 PM

Excellent poem, Agona. : ) I think that in one given situation the immigrants/neighbors things might make a difference, yet the pressures for war may exist right along, just waiting for a trigger or excuse. There are people who have an interest in war - the "military-industrial complex" and commanders with toys who want to use them.

Agona Apell
Date: 4/15/2017 7:13:00 AM

Yes, if there was an agenda all along then the principals will not let go of a chance to make war. Thanks Doug for the warm compliment!