Tyranny Counts the Ballots
“Never forget
everything Hitler did
in Germany was legal.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
drop by drop lady liberty bleeds
red on white and blue
common sense vexatious
verboten spins askew
“We can and we must
write in the language
which sows among the masses
hate revulsion scorn and the like
toward those who disagree with us.”
- Vladimir Lenin
yesterday is ever-present
jarring brass voices carry it on
high-pitched illustrations
shutter the light from daybreak’s dawn
futures refuse focused reflection
engineering a blinding bluff
slick slogans snap fruitful echoes
crisp shrill voices retort rebuff
history passed to relegation
forecasts foreshadowing
revolution commands sharp perspective
voices interlaced with messaging
proclamations masked in silence
druids among ruins sanitize
starry-eyed men moralize
reworded histories are harmonize
lose not a bloodied head
resign yourself to running scared
la guillotine administers
justice swift and sweet
no man speaks of that not heard
or sees that left unread
bony fingers point with indigestion
at reflections of the living dead
attack the truth
harangue and splay
dissect and display
on an altar, the public tray
horizons pushed beyond the edge
driving a flying steel wedge
bait stains and fosters rot
grumbling boasts a rusting plot
lines crossed with grit and grime
rant and rave focused chime
call the blind to indict the slime
committing uncommitted crime
-
unspoken analysts said
les misérables are the walking dead
ill-bred still unread
they chant refrain mantra bred
rabid rabble inflame decay
peal mock alarms in disarray
paint rant in shades of purulent grey
breeding vipers able to slay
party lines made me sick
venom fomented from every prick
poison struck acting quick
wounds fester in politic
lesions dressed in Oleander
ooze toxin poised to pander
infected by casual candor
amplifies targeted slander
headstrong, at school I played
danced the dance and portrayed
sang the songs joined the throngs
the left was right to right the wrongs
truth died anonymously
sacrificed ceremoniously
falling prey to the knave
buried deep in an unmarked grave
snub the pundits chase them away
jerk their chains hold them at bay
once more and again today
cast off the chains unlock the fray
false flags majestically planted
are true lies taken for granted
straw men hanged and effigies burned
a nation divided its citizens churned
courts upheld
justice succumbs and expelled
“Those who cast ballots decide nothing
those who count ballots decide everything.”
- Josef Stalin
silhouettes set against the moon
marauding peril speaks to impending doom
through the mist, visualize
blood-red blazing vacant eyes
muscled henchmen, a Trojan horse
well-provisioned to run the course
--
prowlers target withering prey
actors draped in shades of grey
brandishing scythe blade and sheath
with hammer and sickle concealed beneath
cloaked in a promise and veiled deceit
the weak seek asylum in favored retreat
Quislings count the fallen heads
of wanton walking scurrilous dead
while wagons shadow and assassins ride
accommodating the cowards that hide
seeded slurs have demonized
principles a country crystallized
free speech and the Bill of Rights
pay the price of appetites
to satiate carnal greed
with the need to watch others bleed
henchmen ride the roads once more
perhaps this time to my front door
should I allow and let him in
embrace sit down and dine with him
or capitulate with blinded eyes
to all the founders theorized
shall I prize their lives to live
knowing so little that I can give
to draw breath for another day
missing not what slips away
I sanctioned them to do their job
too messy was their rule by mob
my hands are clean, I’m satisfied
they passed the rules I ratified
Copyright © Howard Manser | Year Posted 2020
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