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POPULUSQUE TRUMPIUS

Their faces are wrinkled by the desert sun
Their bodies are fat from cloned potatoes
They carry firearms to the fireman’s ball
And listen to music which makes you crawl
Meeting at the neon bar for beers
They sneer at anything which doesn’t live near
They are the good souls from the heartland
Do not presume to be their friend

They believe the dinosaurs were in Eden
With a blue-eyed Adam and straw blond Eve
And if the world is flat or a sphere
Is still a deep debate around there
And their shamans and holy men rattle
From the podium of the coming battle
Between Jehovah and the tribe of Satan
For thousands of years and still awaitin’
They are the good souls from the plains
Do not presume they use their brains

They have sad smiles with puffy cheeks
From years of grinding their angry teeth
About the type of folk that don’t speak their speak
That don’t fry up butter and chicken feet
They use all the tools of technology
The car drives the cellphone rings the ice box cools
Yet they think all science is for godless fools
These are the good souls of the main street towns
Do not presume they want you around

There is no chorus or parlor dance to share
There are no poets or dreamers near
It was once we joined in noble labor
Of building a nation of neighbor to neighbor
But like owner and slave or peasant and king
They allow the coldest chime to ring
Proclaiming their clan is the one true thing
These are the good souls of America today
Do not presume they hear a word you say

Their generations will desert them
Like all inquisitions they will bend
To compassion that time must change
Son and daughter will deny their hate
And bury their shame and stupid debate
But for now these good souls hold in place
As all the world watches our utter disgrace

Last few words: 
This poem very different from anything I've written, very Ogden Nash...It just felt good to get it off my chest. Lastly, "do not presume there will be a poet laureate anointed soon" That's for sure.
Editing stage: 

Comments

I know some of these people too, some
are in my family (they refuse to talk to me
about such things, usually).

Must have been almost a relief to get
this one out. I certainly enjoyed it and
will come back, it's that kind of poem!

thanks for sharing with us,

Richard

Poetry is not all prosody and craft,
it is meaning and truth.
Onya brother.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

thanks to all with your comments!

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

author comment

is that it is the type of thinking that caused Trump's victory.
Instead of organising, educating, solidarity amongst the disenfranchised, too many mocked and fed hatred.
Yes, sure, those were his tactics but they didn't have to be ours.

I am quite prepared to be proved wrong about this.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

Yes, that was a concern of mine. But i the end I don't see the Trump crowd as disenfranchised. As you see them at his rallies, they are almost entirely white, lower to middle class, non city dwellers, and over 50. They have their own culture which is virtually impenetrable, after years of listening to alt right radio. Their hatred began big time with a black man becoming president, our supreme high exalted leader, which went against a deeply rooted racism. They believe whatever ridiculous conspiracy theory they hear, that 911 was a CIA job, that we never really went to the moon, that Sandy Hook never happened., that climate change is a hoax.. and on and on. Their ignorance is dangerous.
As per the Trump group, Bannon especially, have publicly discussed the "new world order" in which war is inevitable, in which America will emerge the new world leader. That they are preparing for this war is obvious to me, as we increase our military by another $50 billion. So there is a real danger we have maniacs in power, and I have no sympathy for their supporters.
If we manage to avoid a cataclysm, I do honestly believe the Trump crowd will ultimately never change, any more than so many Germans remained loyal to the Nazi's dream until their natural deaths. So I do believe what I was feeling, that Trumpers will ultimately fade and their children will reject their values, as did the German generation born after the war.
Very quickly Trump is destroying the fabric of America, our hopes as a people. Soon our waters will be filthy, our food corrupted, our sacred planet exploited. Trumpers will certainly not be better off by it, and will blame the "liberals" as they have been doing for decades. In the end want to paraphrase an old folk song by Phil Oaks (about Mississippi)"Here's to the land you tore out the heart of...Trump supporters find yourself another country to be part of"
and it comes down to "it's only fair to ask you, which side are you on?" We live in alternate universes, and I am tired of trying to patronize them. As the poem says, "Do not presume to be their friend."
I was very active in the war against Vietnam. Those protests helped create the stage to end that war. We are in a similar state now; the young and dreamers against a medievals. In the comng months you will see massive disruption and protests. It will not be pretty. There is still 25% of this country will support Trump irregardless of anything..He is their great White Hope. For the rest of us, we are still in shock. The poem is a reaction to that shock.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

author comment

Let us devise an argument against his policies, that doesn't name names or programs.
There is no time to be subtle, the things that he will do if given the chance, may cause global-war and affect the entire population of the world. Australia will not be spared the havoc and carnage.
~ Gee.
.

There is value to commenting and critique, tell us how you feel about our work.
This must be the place, 'cause there ain't no place like this place anywhere near this place.

religious, but Amen! As I tried to give Trump and his supporters the benefit of doubt, I started to argue both sides of the platform. I began to see that there is no doubt as to the kind of world that they see as being the correct one. It is the one that keeps the people from taking the power from the elite and deciding for themselves what is good for the masses. According to the now in power, we don't have the smarts to rule ourselves, much as the slaves and downtrodden haven't in any other time. ~ Geezer.
.

There is value to commenting and critique, tell us how you feel about our work.
This must be the place, 'cause there ain't no place like this place anywhere near this place.

I enjoy your poems, but you are far afield here. But it can be hard to tell as you're in a large crowd.

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