'I Want Mine'

Essay by: Mike S.

Reads: 52 | Likes: 3 | Shelves: 0 | Comments: 3

What's happened to us?

Democracy died on a June day in '15,

And no one noticed it's passing,

With the announcement he was running

Some of us cheered when he was nominated,

But we so misjudged the anger of some

The fact that he had so much support,

Let alone any at all, shocked thinking

People everywhere--but especially here

Dismay to put it mildly; horror to some,

Jubilation to others, spelled the mother

Of all divides, one that will be difficult,

Or impossible, to span--democracy died

In full view and indifference of a certain breed

All for allegiance of to man who has none

For them; only for one man, himself

Selfishness took center stage under

A big top of lies, ineptness, and crude

The blame lies with others and in shadow

Empty promises sounded good to some of us,

'I want mine' and angry thoughts to the fore

A lost, frightened society thrashing in the dark,

Searching for truth from a liar and con,

Searching for what we thought was lost

Was here all the time; down comes the curtain

On our democracy if we don't right the ship

Sailing and flailing into the belly of the beast

Lost children alone on a sea of uncertainty,

With a rudderless captain at the helm

I fear for our future and cry for our past

He may be leaving, but his chaos will stay

His outlook was just the first warning shot

Of a culture war that's already begun

Deeply damaged soul burns everything and us

To the ground

The following is a review of the above that I received on another site that illustrates the whole problem with how each of us views what's happening:

Wow, I so disagree with you it was hard for me to read your poem and evaluate it fairly. However, I felt that if I gave it less than 5 stars, I was allowing my personal feelings to judge your poetry rather than assessing it on poetic merits.

From someone on the other side... I am devastated at the severe fraud and corruption that occurred during the 2020 election because it means that there are people in this country who care more about carrying out their own personal biases than they care about maintaining our free and fair election process. Rhetorically speaking, if you can't win without cheating, is that really a win??? If you only get your news from the mainstream media, you aren't getting a full picture of what has happened. I chalk attitudes like yours up to a lack of knowledge rather than taking the path of maligning people as Trump opposers do when they call us, "hate-filled racists," of which I am not.

Merry Christmas
Susan

Submitted: December 20, 2020

Editorial and Opinion society politics