Like many of my friends and fellow Americans, I was gobsmacked, horrified, flabbergasted, depressed, and frankly scared to death for the future of our democracy on November 5 when I viewed the election results. A sociopath with no guardrails. How could that happen? I’ve never written anything political on my blog, but I would have to put my head in the sand or crawl into a cave on Whidbey Island if I didn’t share the profound reaction that is still within me and being played out on the national and international stage right now. No amount of isolating myself from the daily news is going to work. Change and tension are in the air, and it isn’t a pretty change. But when I get up off the floor and realize that the only thing to do is to work for positive change, actively and tirelessly, perhaps my despondency will turn into acceptance of the challenges ahead and a new awareness of the possibility of a beneficial and effective outcome.
With that in mind I tweak my usual humorous style of poetry from Ogden Nash to the more lilting rhythm of Billy Collins, for a few “uplifting” lines addressed to the Trump supporters, before I return to normal. And please don’t ask me what normal is!
I CAN’T BELIEVE IT…CAN YOU?
We offered you peace, hope, togetherness,
And you gave us a wannabe tyrant who preaches divisiveness.
We pledged to protect a society founded on justice and the rule of law,
And you gave us a felon.
We offered women a chance to take charge of their bodies,
And you gave us a misogynist convicted of sexual assault, who doesn’t give a fig about what women are going through.
We promised help for the immigrants and undocumented students,
And you gave us a congenital liar, who claims that immigrants eat dogs and cats!
We offered help to the disadvantaged, and tax relief to the middle class,
And you gave us an insufferable billionaire, who showered tax cuts on the wealthy.
We offered new programs and more comprehensive coverage in the field of health and medicine,
And you gave us an overweight jelly-belly, who plans to take away health insurance from millions.
We promised to promote renewable energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels to mitigate the imminent danger of climate change,
And you promised a return to off-shore drilling so your buddies could become even richer.
We outlined programs to benefit every segment of our country and reduce inflation,
And you gave us an autocrat, who proposes inflation-producing tariffs on imports and the deportation of thousands of immigrant workers.
We gave you a qualified, intelligent, articulate candidate,
And you gave us an inarticulate, self-serving insurrectionist.
Yes, I was excited that we were finally going to become one as a nation,
But, instead, I was the one who totally underestimated the anger and division.
At the advice of my daughter, Cary, who suggested that I use descriptive phrases rather than unflattering labels, true ‘though they might be, I left the following out of my poem: addled buffoon, bloviating unintelligible fool, gibbering idiot, diabolical, unapologetic criminal, belligerent crook, demented, unhinged and dangerous lunatic. And those are just the ones I haven’t forgotten. Ha ha. Now it’s your turn.
The voters have elected one of the world’s most right-wing leaders, who is waving his vitriolic tongue, threatening to destroy his enemies, wreak havoc on those who disagree with him, shut down the free press, which he characterizes as “the enemy of the people,” and institute his draconian Project 2025.
I ask myself, how do I meet these upcoming tests to our democracy? Am I up to it? I will be!
But now, more than ever, I treasure the earth…and what makes me happy.
What will our path forward be?
