On Antifa, Coming to the Country

A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. —Amendment II

by Reid McGrath

I’ll warn you now: We like our guns out here.
Our safes have never been so well equipped.
Guns are a good investment. Year by year
we garner more. The Markets all have dipped.
Cash can collapse but guns are liquid gold.
Guns are warmth and safety. Guns are land.
Ammo’s rain that fertilizes food.
Destroy your cities dodo-birds. But planned
excursions Here would be a little bold
to make in your incendiary mood.
The nights are dark. The woods are cruel and cold.
Guerrilla games are ours. We like our hand.
So if you come with the intent to riot:
just know we’re armed and antsy to defy it.

 

Self-Defense

by Reid McGrath

For you who first step on my land: you can have the .22.
You who make it one step more: my rifle will suffice for you.
You who make it to the porch: my shotgun’s slug will make you balk.
But you who make it in the house… you can have my tomahawk.

 

 

Thoughts on CHAZ

by James A. Tweedie

I wonder if Seattle’s mayor
Has read Will Golding’s story?
The one where lawless boys
Live out a lawless allegory?
Where anarchy creates a void
That’s all too quickly filled
By thugs who seize control
By having other people killed?
My guess is that the mayor will soon
Be forced to feign surprise,
When “summer love” turns out to be
The next, “Lord of the Flies.”

 

 

Anarchists and Marxists
__Or
“Le Deluge” Redux

“In order to make an omelet, you have to crack some eggs.” —Origin Unknown

by James A. Tweedie

Anarchists and Marxists share a common enemy.
As far as I can tell, one of those enemies is me.
They don’t like me because I represent the status quo,
Since being White and male means that I’m privileged, you know.

I also am a person who maintains a faith in God,
A faith they both detest and want suppressed or made outlawed.
They each believe they know how to bring paradise to earth,
And think that only their philosophy has any worth.

All other thoughts, beliefs, philosophies, and “isms” must
Be overthrown, destroyed and, in the end, reduced to dust.
The groups they pander to the most are those they call, “oppressed.”
Including races, genders, college graduates with debts.

The problems, so they say, are sexist, racist phobias,
That must be crushed in order to create utopias.
They also pander to the poor, whose economic plight
Is all the fault of one-percent of Capitalist might.

Each revolutionary group is like a kitchen crew
Preparing omelets they plan to force-feed me and you.
The problem is, they’re using two exclusive recipes.
That each requires their group to use distinctive kinds of cheese.

The difference is small, but there’s no room for compromise;
In spite of each pretending that they love the “little guys.”
The bland, generic cheese they use is processed from the dregs.
Their omelets are made by breaking other people’s eggs.

Conservatives will find their eggs will be the first to go.
Progressive’s eggs are next, for they are enemies, also.
Once cooking starts there will, I fear, be no more turning back,
If heads are eggs, there will, of course, be many eggs to crack.

The power they each seek will not be shared by splitting votes,
For once the eggs are cracked, they’ll turn and squeeze each other’s throats.

 

 

Where Do We Draw the Line?

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

by Susan Jarvis Bryant

Where do we draw the line before we fall
into the bleak abyss of starless black,
where yesterday lies smashed and sprayed with scrawl
and dreams cannot leap forward or track back?

When will the cowered voice begin to crack
and break into a soaring call to all?
Our timid tongues are tied by vile attack.
Where do we draw the line before we fall?

We live in crazy days of creep-and-crawl
where lies are prized and truth is skewed and slack.
When will we hurl such soulless, godless gall
into the bleak abyss of starless black?

Should we accept all blaming, shaming flack:
let blatant bullies bludgeon, burn, and brawl,
as we kowtow and bow while thugs ransack
our yesterdays—now smashed and sprayed with scrawl?

Or should we save what history gave; walk tall
and salvage every milestone, every plaque—
rebuff today’s divisive overhaul
where dreams cannot leap forward or track back?

Should tyrants loot our past and then hijack
our future wisdom, wit, and wherewithal
(all drawn from cheers and tears and change of tack)
and slay our nation built for one and all—
where do we draw the line?

 

 

Outrage and Justice

written in response to the George Floyd riots, June, 2020

by Martin Rizley

Orange glows the urban jungle draped in searing flames of fire
Kindled by a spark of outrage, fanned by gusts of burning ire.
Blackened car shells, charred and beaten, smoulder in the smoke-filled night
Sacrificed to gods of war on altars etched with “Might makes right.”

Shattered windows scatter shards of glass to pave the looters´path—
Shards that stab the conscience dead in lawless hate spree´s aftermath.
Through the heat waves, forms of bodies, in the throes of boiling rage,
Prowl with predatory gait like lions set loose from a cage.

From the mouths of babes emerge foul creatures as from poisoned soil,
Curses black as creeping spiders, stinging insects, snakes that coil;
Slithering from under tongues, they crawl across young, parting lips
Lips that take—between each breath—from fetid sewers thirsty sips.

Armed with brick and bat and broken bottle bearing jagged teeth,
March they forth to vent their passions, trampling justice underneath
Bestial feet so swift to shed the blood of hapless men who find
All their pleas fall on deaf ears from those whose vengeful eyes are blind.

As they fall beneath the blows of fist and foot, the blood that´s shed
Cries for justice like the blood of Abel, who still speaks, though dead.
Red it flows through filthy gutters, bearing solemn witness to
All the evils that gush forth when outrage dictates what men do.

Then I hear another sound, above the din of hellish cries
Rising from the blood stained streets where blind men shout satanic lies:
Joyful sounds of countless voices drawing near, not far away,
Sing aloud of peace and justice, as the first beams of the day

Stream like rivers from the east across the pale blue skies of dawn.
Now I see the throng appearing, hand in hand, as they march on.
It’s a mighty choir composed of every race and tribe of men
Singing of a brighter future to which all can say “amen!”

From all corners of the earth, they come to join their hearts and sing,
Welcoming a world of hope that only love and trust can bring.
White and black and brown and yellow, in all sizes, shapes and shades,
Turn their backs on racist fears and turn their ears from hate´s tirades.

Like a rainbow full of promise, not one color do they lack
As they march with cooling winds of justice blowing at their back.
As one man, they enter chaos, and the breeze of justice blows
Pushing back the waves of heat, as healing rain from heaven flows.

Free of all distrust, resentment, piercing passions, blinding pain,
Free of outrage toward their neighbors, free of anger´s binding chain,
Now they can pursue one truth, impartial to each person’s skin—
In a world where Lady Justice, blindfold, rules, the people win!

 

 

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20 Responses

  1. Joseph S. Salemi

    The fact that five different poets came up with these these poems so quickly only confirms an old Sicilian proverb: “La lingua batti unni lu denti doli.” (The tongue strikes where the tooth hurts).

    Antifa is no different from the Nazi SA (Sturmabteilung), or Storm Troopers. Both are about physically intimidating political opponents with vicious threats, beatings, and property destruction.

    Are you going to pray that these violent punks and thugs go away? Or are you going to listen to the advice of Napoleon, who famously said that the only answer to a criminal mob is to give them “a whiff of grapeshot”?

    Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Regarding whether physical or prayers are necessary in dealing with insurrection, I don’t think it’s a question of either/or, but both/and. Clearly, the governing authorities have a solemn duty to defend the nation from armed thugs who are trying to spark a Bolshevik style revolution. At the same time, prayers are needed so that the nation’s leaders will have the wisdom, courage and resolve– gifts from on high– to use whatever force is necessary, exercised strategically, to restore law and order and to keep the country from descending into complete anarchy.

      Reply
      • Joseph S. Salemi

        That’s fine, Mr. Rizley. But I advise you not to hold your breath waiting for the powers that be to take any steps to protect you from what’s coming from these as-yet-unpunished insurrectionists.

        Meanwhile, I advise you to buy a gun. Soon.

  2. Mike Bryant

    I am absolutely stunned at the forthright messages and wonderful poetry on this page today.
    Reid McGrath, your two poems are brilliant and full of truth. I’ve read some of your others and I’m glad to see you here again.
    James Tweedie, you have these criminals pegged and you’ve done it in flawless verse. Really amazing stuff.
    Susan Jarvis Bryant, Wow! Your rondeau redoublé is beautiful and asks the question that must be answered now before we lose our country.
    And Martin Rizley you’ve written an epic. You’ve shown us this hell on earth and given us a glimpse of heaven and justice.
    I am proud to be a part of a site that can bring so much pure poetry to bear on the questions of the day. I can hardly believe it. Bravo to you all and thanks to Evan.

    Reply
    • Reid McGrath

      Thanks, Mike. It is nice to be back. Really enjoyed the other poems as well.

      Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Both of these materials you posted are excellent– so full of reason and common sense. I tremble to think of the fate of any nation that turns a deaf ear to sane voices like these and chooses to embrace instead a false and divisive narrative, driven by feelings of racist vitriol and distrust, defended not with persuasive arguments, statistics and facts but with sticks, stones, shouted mantras, and acts of terrorist violence. .

      Reply
    • Reid McGrath

      It seems as if the second link has already been censored. I can’t open it.

      Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      Since one of the links has already been censored, what does that tell us about the actual, objective situation that we are now in? How long was it allowed to stay up? Eight hours?

      Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      C.B., thank you for these brave voices of sanity in a world gone mad.

      Reply
      • C.B. Anderson

        Susan,

        Does this mean that you actually got to read the second item? Some of us apparently can no longer do so.

      • Susan Jarvis Bryant

        C.B., not only did I get to read the second item via your link (which I read before you posted it), I copied it into a Word document and sent it to everyone I thought it would benefit.

        The first link is the alternative view to the virtue signaling “Uncomfortable Conversations With A Black Man” – the slick Hollywood take on why the white-skinned people need to bear the guilt of slavery and feel shame for all eternity (even though they aren’t racist and have never owned a slave) in the name of social justice. Utter rubbish! I think I have alienated many, but, “I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.“

  4. dave Whippman

    In Britain, few people own guns, but I must say that “Self-Defense” sums up my reactions to Antifa. Regarding BLM: in my home city, protesters tore down a statue of a slave merchant and threw it in the harbour. I’m waiting for them to go to Egypt and tear down the pyramids, as these of course were built with slave labour.

    Reply
    • Reid McGrath

      I would not want to be in Britain. Let’s see how they fare in Egypt, huh?

      There is no rationality to what they destroy. They’re animals.

      Reply
      • Joseph S. Salemi

        Nigel Farage has just been forced out of his job as a commentator on a British radio station, simply for stating that Black Lives Matter is a Marxist terror group (which it most certainly is).

        And this is a country which used to be called “the Mother of Parliaments.” Britons are no freer today than Russians were in the old Soviet Union.

      • Susan Jarvis Bryant

        “During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” Nigel Farage’s career embodies this statement, yet, he’s bravely spoken the truth for years and been demonized by those in power and the press for doing so. I’ve listened to LBC (including here in Texas) for most of my life, and if James O’Brien and his ilk, with their straw-man arguments, are all there is left, I’m done with listening. I hope all those stalwart citizens who went to London at the weekend and got beaten senseless by terrorists for protecting their heritage do the same.

  5. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    I have friends and family in the U.K. and fear for their future. I read this morning that the British police have been advised to take a knee during the protests to keep things calm. The same thing is happening in states over here. Since when has taking a knee in the face of criminal acts achieved anything?

    It’s a privilege to be on a site dedicated to fine poetry and, above all, freedom. Every poem sings passionately with truth, honesty and creativity. I especially like Mr. Tweedie’s “Thoughts on CHAZ”. Let’s hope the message of Lord of the Flies hasn’t been trampled over by today’s skewed education system, whereby all the lads are oppressed victims of society and the death of Piggy is just a symptom of a greater cause.

    Reply

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