Not Poetry. Quatrain Verse in English & Swedish. Dagsverser. On the Mundane & the Arcane.
Once we begin to label
people, situations
they’ll turn simplistic fable
drawing allegations
An opinion in a blink
demands our chiding or sainting
without bothering to think
could prove indelibly tainting
‘Evil’ found irreversible
seen as beyond redemption
while ‘Good’ always traversable
fragrant without exemption
But at times don’t ‘good’ people seem buffoonish
while ‘evil’ people benignly cartoonish?
That citizens sleep on sidewalks
engenders but little compassion
while belligerent China hawks
are in exceptionalist fashion
To send our young crisply uniformed
endowed by ‘defense’ budget bloat
amidst cheers by public uninformed
to sally beyond our own moat
Billions squandered sparring in the South China Sea
by a ‘civilized’ nation … how can it still be?!
From inconvenience
(as we lack calm resilience)
do grant us lenience!
Let’s rely on own brilliance!
Amidst all impertinent tasks
we’re joined strong in resistance
to those ‘steam up my glasses’ masks
and keeping 6 ft distance!
Those demands imposed on us like blitzkrieg!
Honor our fatigue! Unfair the intrigue!
Getting to take the backseat
on a vehicle of success
ain’t lounging in a box seat
or being gifted some largesse
The Poor do slide off the pillion
when Elite does a wheelie
who ‘earn’ yet another billion
throttling entitled, freely
The Power Elite
who rarely feels contrite
expresses its conceit:
“The Poor should’ve held on tight!”
As The Poor fall off on Life’s ride
the Elite takes it in their stride
+)
-pillion = here: a small cushion-like passenger seat of a motorbike
Political meltdown
Neo-fascist coup
by brashest clown
and well armed crew
In celeb adulation
incessantly we prate
rarely now conversation
but clichés hurled in hate
Occurs not by chance inequality
but by wilful sinister polity
Letting ourselves be distracted
blind to fallout, while all hellbent on
lame entertainment protracted
Real threats scorned, barely acted upon
Kicking the can down the road
in our anomie habitat
Thus reaping what we are owed
slow motion fascist coup d’etat?
Tell, when was cataclysm ever averted
by hiding out in consumerism perverted?
Our emotion-based ‘reasoning’
works only fleetingly well
while redolent as seasoning
may sound a nation’s death knell
While distracted by our own schlock
absorbed in state affective
we won’t hear Reality knock
thus losing all perspective
We can’t be bothered to dissect
what is cause & what is effect
Lunatic lies unending
narrative paths twisted
both facts & logic bending
evasions enlisted
Do we prefer lies outrageous
to mere reality obstruction?
In these troubled times contagious
which do offer foremost distraction?
Hard to see a happy ending
to such abomination
Society’s fabric rending
soon falls ‘civilization’!
Meantime more ‘fun’ a neo-fascist autocrat
than some smart, informed, honest, social democrat
If we want to get along
mouth only the mundane
and if we want to belong
stray not in the arcane!
Let others spout their opinion
and just pretend to listen
Act the sycophantic minion
smile, best if our eyes glisten
Avoid these words to get along:
‘ascetic’ & ‘poetic’
Apply in order to belong:
‘athletic’ & ‘cosmetic’
Voice only the prosaic
like ‘we get warm by burning coal’
avoid ‘photovoltaic’
Above all do not bare our soul!
Thus we’ll evade some risk & strife
but will we lead a worthwhile life?
Right wingers march in neo-heimat
breathe out air & thought pollution
To ignore the collapsing climate
appears their preferred ‘solution’
How shall this mess, surely soon, end
as false cheers drag us in abjection?
Pernicious threats makes deadly blend
in consumer dreams, wide selection:
Wars been raging without ceasefires
as do now global floods, wildfires
Nations lacking sense to back down
prance at very edge of nuclear war
they war game ‘limited’ showdown
while ‘suitcase bombs’ may blast through backdoor
Too close to the edge we totter
in political meltdown
by the self-styled ‘genius’ plotter
revealed himself vile a clown
Economy precariously
fumbles while greed’s ruthless prophets
on Wall Street most nefariously
amass usurious profits
Enabled by our own inanity
we’re perishing amidst insanity!
+)
‘genius’ plotter = Trump