It began not with a bang
but a glint, a boyish smile
beamed through grainy television light
a man named Kennedy spoke of torch-passing
I believed him
hope in a tailored suit while shadows
waited silently in Dallas
Then came fire, cities burning
two more shots
dreams kneecapped mid-sentence
and the country turned inward
toward Nixon's clenched jaw
this one smelled of wiretaps and erased tape
We changed, but slowly
each crisis carried us limping into new rooms
Reagan's smile offered morning again
while undercurrents swirled all around
Iran-Contra, Wall Street's ghoulish grin
Then, a saxophone on late-night TV
Clinton grinning through scandal
pivoting in place, negotiating truth
fabric fraying as prosperity hummed
the line between personal and political
blurred by midnight
The Towers fell. Everything changed.
a cowboy president squinted at the horizon
made his choice, war like a hammer
justice outsourced to the drone's eye
Obama, hand on Bible
a shift in color, cadence
he said hope, he said change
I heard music, others skepticism
he meant the long game
And then came rupture
not a pivot but a plunge
the Carnival, barking its way
to the White House Steps
a nation split not in two
but in shards, each tweet a crisis
each lie a decision point for the soul
Today we sit in this ever-tilting room
choices stacked like sandbags against the surge
crisis was never a moment
it is the ground beneath us
always trembling, forever demanding
upon which we must choose
who we will become next
I liked this post, thanks
ReplyDeleteExcellent poem. I like the culmination of a nation so fractured it split into shards, and in such a short time as well. I hope you get that opportunity of free choice in who you are becoming next in this catastrophic time.
ReplyDeleteReminds me very much of George Carlin and Bill Hicks commentary on the USA. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteA poetic history of US Presidency leading to the conclusion of process rather than the individual ensconced in office. I start each day reading Heather Cox Richardson and over time, that same theme has emerged of the shifting battle played out in America - the battle between the men of power and the power of "We the people". I hope that the nakedness and rapidity of the assault on democracy and the rule of law, will provoke an equally rapid reaction - I have all fingers and toes crossed Helen - and your poem is yet another push in the right direction...
ReplyDeleteI read your timeline of sorts, Helen, and was surprised that all these events happened in my lifetime on the other side of the world. I remember that boyish smile beaming through grainy television light. I like the contrast between ‘hope in a tailored suit’ and one that ‘smelled of wiretaps and erased tape’, and the phrase ‘a shift in color, cadence’. But oh, that rupture, and the ‘Carnival, barking its way to the White House Steps’.
ReplyDeleteFinally got to read it, Helen..I shifted you to the top of the list. Would that there is a new addition to your list soon!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is incredibly powerful, Helen! I resonate with; "crisis was never a moment
ReplyDeleteit is the ground beneath us." 🤍
A great reflection of the past and the now. It is very powerful.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that it has been spiraling downward for quite some time.... how can it heal?
ReplyDeleteSo very well written, Helen. You connected all the dots and in the end up on the Carnival Fun House Ride that scares us at every twist and turn.
ReplyDeleteWonderfully done. I am left wishing the last stanza was not the last (and present) stanza. Wish it was all over with and that the last stanza was of a united world. Wow, you did this so beautifully Helen. Thanks so much. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteA poem of the moment, gravitas, I so love the last line most of all - partly because it speaks to all of us in our own context.
ReplyDeleteA poetic history of the U.S that tells the truth like it is. Brava, Helen!
ReplyDelete