Several aphorisms come to
mind —
Whatever goes round comes
round Gotham
gets the hero it
deserves which I endorse
thank you
Cristopher Nolan.
Any conclusions? Probably
just one — democracy from the
bottom up green-lights ordinary
people’s hatred of those they
consider elite whom
they also regard
as beyond truth and trust and
not one of them.
Thanks to my own peculiar
predilections
I had to goad myself into voting
for the bright and precious
Kamala — Gaza
and imperialism and dead
children have been sticking
In my throat for more than a year.
I don’t yet feel the dread Auden
evoked nearly a century ago —
as he advises I’m holding on to
hope. I last felt a nameless
dread sixty years ago when they
killed my Jack and my youth
and anger drove me to
Washington to listen to Chopin’s
dirge and then to Colombia and
activist politics for the rest of my
life.
And now I’m left with what if’s for
the murders of Martin, Medgar and
Malcolm and acceptance of the Dem
Party’s endemic bouts of arrogance and illusions and blown
opportunities. I no longer have in me the
bursts of energy to rally
compatriots to the cause — I’ve found
I no longer have the words or the
credibility — we do not share the same
language.
What’s left for me is to sit and
reflect and string together the
few obtuse thoughts wandered
through by those of you curious
enough to read them. I’ll close
by reminding you
and myself
of Joe Hill’s
self-epitaph
“Don’t mourn organize!”