Julius Caesar hastened a decline in liberty
Roman rights abridged, from a partial democracy.
A leader can come in, and single handed attack
The freedoms people had, not easy to get back.
Germany was a democracy under Weimar
Then Hitler came in, they followed his star
Mussolini dismantled freedoms Italy had
Democracy is easy to lose, and that's sad.
Nicaragua was a democracy, then voted in Ortega
He said no more voting until we reach the planet Vega.
Venezuela voted in a populist red:
Now people shiver when secret police tread.
Turkey was free until Erdogan moved.
He jailed journalists, judges too.
It is like roach motel, no doubt.
You can check in to dictatorship, but you can't check out.
Some leaders won just enough of the vote
Some took a while to don the dictator coat.
But freedom is apparently not immune
to a strong leader sweeping it off with a broom.
Churchill was on Democracy's side
But said it's the worst system except for all that were tried.
We have trillions in debt, as far as the eye can see
And immigrants who don't all accept liberty.
So there's pressure to enter Roach Motel
Can we avoid it? Too early to tell.
They told you, "You deserve a speedy trial,
On you no scrum of jackals pile
They said you'd know each charge they bring,
And as for rights, every man a king.
They told you that your speech was free,
That you could choose your company.
Your home's your castle, safe and firm,
And you can keep what you can earn.
You believed that Karma's true
Built in the rules, silly you.
For government is not the only throne;
The crowd can have a heart of stone.
No judge need speak, no law be bent—
Your rights can die by mere consent.
In other spheres, rules not applied
The door to slavery is open wide.
The night grows tight around the tongue,
a hush imposed by iron hands;
the stars seem frightened, one by one,
retreating from the darkened lands.
A single whisper costs a life—
yet still it trembles through the air,
for even in the grip of strife
a human heart cannot forbear.
Abusive powers rise like storms,
their thunder built on stolen breath;
but souls, though beaten out of form,
still bloom—defying even death.
He moves through the world as if glass were soft,
as if breaking it made ome strange music.
Inside him, in fear small children crouch,
still waiting for the blow that came all to often.
His mouth twists around apologies
they he never learned to mean—
His tongue cut out his strange words
too tender to pronounce.
He could not touch without leaving fingerprints,
Never loved without counting debts.
Shame sits in his stomach like a stone,
hunger’s first twin, born of neglect.
He thinks that cruelty is power,
but it is only fear in costume—
a trembling god he never served
because no one ever taught him mercy.
they shave the heads of their citizens
without ever lifting a blade,
it’s all numbers, files, and boots on the street.
they steal the laughter from kitchens,
turn love into ration cards,
make hope a felony,
make truth disappear down stairwells at midnight.
they don’t need to kill everybody,
just enough to keep the rest quiet.
fear is cheaper than bread.
they smile in portraits,
gold frames on every wall,
but their eyes are black wells
where the people fall in forever.
and the world shrugs—
because dictators don’t come from mars,
they’re grown at home.
They live in a world of illusions
Gripping onto their beliefs
Weaving a web of lies
Steering their journey through the tide
Are guardians of their pride
Masses who follow their rules
Followers of the deceitful fib
Enjoy a life of ease
The ones who supply them
With their fabricated visions
Shape their lives with lead
Are masters of this creed
But those who dare to speak the truth
Are victims of their dreaded cruelty
As a testimony of the act of defiance
Ruthlessly slaughtered in public
Hanged on the gallows of death
So, with their minds full of illusions
They dream of world domination
Or are pawns of a larger game
Leading to this devastating end.
Now do bear with me, for a moment ,please?
I shall not write vacuous poetry on my knees.
The approval of the crowd, is unbearable to seek.
I am truthful,and no, I will not turn the other cheek!
So when you find me as silent as the evening star.
Know that there is more to life, than poetry is life”# cookie jar!
I love to pen about the ingredients of a joyous or grim reality.
For~ to be true to life and one’s own soul is joyful,spiritual fealty!
11/21/2023
Special Dedication to A. Scorpio
Thank you for believing in me, my friend. And
acknowledging my spirit for absolute truth in
poetry…..There can be no dignity of the human
soul ..if we are threatened for telling the truth.
That is the warning that civilization is ending .
All despicable dictators know this technique.
Putin, Xi, Stalin.Hitler.All were killers of free
speech. Poets are not court jesters!
Tens of millions dead …unknown numbers in
prisons as I write.
~Panagiota Romios~
deposed dictators’ club
they sit there in their comfort
each in his moneyed retreat
maybe each reflecting
on unexpected defeat
unprosecuted criminals
guarded wherever they go
protected maybe in silence
for not telling what they know
the remaining world leaders
mouth off about their end
no position quite as transient
as that of political friend
and they push and the jostle
for a share of the spoils
particularly when
it’s a country rich in oil
back in the liberated places
where the worm finally turned
the mess is sorted out
maybe lessons learned
and for a little while
new alliances are cemented
the diplomats return and
credentials are presented
good will rules for the present
until that time comes when
power breeds corruption
and it all starts off again
they sit there in their comfort
waiting for revolution to end
and the deposed dictators’ club
welcomes the newly deposed friend
An election day is upon us,
And many issues may claim a stake.
Such as, can a weakened democracy
Survive, through disbelief and heartache?
Every other issue the ballots present,
Are colored by fraud and fantasy that some believe.
Yet if they silence enough voices to progress,
They'll turn back the clock, without freedom to retrieve.
So important is this vote,
That nothing in history can compare.
As these parties seek to better the other, while
Contempt overshadows compassion with an icy stare.
This fight will be waged on bloody soil,
Where victories' truth may not survive.
While the casualties will continually mount,
And no one knows who will be left alive.
So while the words, spoken with promise,
Offer redemption and greatness ahead.
The deeds must be considered and weighed,
Against what's been lost, and those who have bled.
Tyrants, Despots and Dictators
remember it never ends well for tyrants, despots and dictators
4-13-22
Contest: Bite Size Poem No. 42
Sponsor: Line Gauthier
The world is watching with bated breath,
while an unforsaken slaughter takes place
A man with no soul, an angel of death
There is no escape from this labyrinth,
only terror he brings to his own race
The world is watching with bated breath
With rage, pent-up frustration, and faith
Good men do their part, fighting to replace,
a man with no soul, an angel of death
Poets write forthright about him in depth,
with a fury about what’s taking place
The world is watching with bated breath
One man’s brutality, Lord thy feareth.
Oligarchs flee on their yachts and disgrace,
a man with no soul, an angel of death
As we stand together, we send a pleth—
ory of prayers to end this, with God’s grace
The world is watching with bated breath,
a man with no soul, an angel of death
"A man convinced against his own will, is of the same opinion still".
It used to be
two opinions
two paths
two ideologies
Two Choices
Day and Night,
Men and women,
Boys and girls,
Fathers and mothers,
Rights and the wrongs
open and closed,
gain and loses,
Lovers and the haters,
Good and evil,
Rich and poor,
Foolish and wise,
success and failure,
learned and unlearned ,
The living and the dead,
The willing and unwilling,
The thankful and thankful,
fruitful and unfruitful,
Righteous and the unrighteous.
the truthful and the Liars,
Then came
The "Vaxxed" and "unvaxed".
the sane and the insane,
Then they had a problem
as Nations bow to Socialism
and President becomes Dictators
and pharmaceutical made the world a Lab
and the media as viceroy
compel us by repetition.
Why do we have dictators
MONEY
Why do we have corruption
MONEY
Why do we have crime
MONEY
Why do we have wars
MONEY
Why do we have endangered wildlife
MONEY
Why do we have deforestation
MONEY
Why do we have the rich
MONEY
Why do we have the poor
MONEY
Why do we have the unhealthy
MONEY
Why do we have inequality
MONEY
Why do we have the climate crisis
MONEY
Why do we have money
GREED
By what perverse mental capacity
Does the bully gain satisfaction
In administering agony upon another
By what human deficiency
Does the dictator righteously believe
Their dictates should circumscribe a citizenry
By what delusional misconception
Does a people follow in obedience
A potentate’s decrees of servitude to state
By what level of constitutional dismantling
Does “We the People” have to be unglued
Before our comrades vote to remove potentates, dictators, and bullies
only those teaching hard lessons
without schemes and lesson plans
to pupils who sit on their ears
due to boredom in classroom
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