.

Dominion

“No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do.”  —Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game

by Susan Jarvis Bryant

Dominion is the despot’s aim
Employed to zip loose lips and tame
All sovereign thought then render blind
The eye of the enlightened mind—
It’s chicanery’s chosen name.

This cheat-machine, designed to maim
Democracy, spells out its game.
It tells us what it’s primed to find—
Dominion.

And if we don’t call out and shame;
Hold to account all those to blame;
Expose the hateful mastermind
Behind the fate of humankind;
We’ll hand them what they came to claim—
Dominion.

.

.

In Summation:

by Christopher Flint

How does Texas lack standing to sue
as the threats of invasion accrue
at the border four states will destroy
by abusive political ploy

breaking laws of their own to pursue
what their bona fide voters eschew  —
that would neither be true nor correct
and unlawful when used to elect?

Does politicized, dubious “science”
now legitimize despots and tyrants
who, abusing risk deemed as “pandemic”,
have assumed by unlawful polemic

merely counting all ballots amassed
will affirm the votes validly cast
and recounting will soundly refute
legal-standing-of-voter dispute?

Does denial now certify fact?
And is proof unexamined now “lacked”?
Are conflicting accounts unresolved
now ignored and thus held to be solved?

Are statistics in precedents used
now unworthy and being refused
as the evidence laws were defied
where machines systematically lied

and forced bona fide counting to cease
to let falsely fed ballots increase
precise sums in proportion required
to get “wins” algorithmically “wired”?

And will ballots unlawful by mail
and by boxes of harvests prevail
without audit by signed validation
and ID proving apt registration…

…because no state can stand to object
to perversion of laws in effect
by another to alter the course
of the fairness it’s bound to enforce…

…as the sum of its legal votes cast
to a US election when passed
as the will of said state by its laws
and its people, not criminal cause?

And if so, then what country is left
for the citizens suffering theft
of due process denied unexplained
serving tyranny loosed unrestrained

as the unconstitutional will
of attainder without even bill
where “republic” is thus redefined
as a gulag for voices confined?

Seven justices acting in haste
inexplicably now have disgraced
solemn oaths before God to the court
of our nation’s last peaceful resort

giving tyranny license to steal
what those selfless committed to seal
as their legacy, liberty claimed,
by life given in sum or as maimed,

for the right to reach greatness on earth
by the soul on the soil of its berth
where the evil of man is denied
by all grievances lawfully tried

now abandoned by seven who’ve said,
arbitrarily, liberty’s dead
because, lacking in courage, they chose
not to stand like those now in repose.

.
.


NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets.

The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.


CODEC Stories:

28 Responses

  1. Monty

    ‘In America, the young are always ready to give to those older than themselves the full benefit of their inexperience’: Wilde (but these days, it would be to no avail).

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Oscar’s ‘Parents should be seen, not heard’ observation – exactly why society is in the mess it’s in now.

      Reply
  2. Monty

    Wilde’s been misquoted; what he actually said was: ‘Fathers should be neither seen nor heard. That is the only proper basis for family life’. Different subject. But his aformentioned words about the “young” are far more congruous to describe the current state of American society. The young have got the priceless advantage of being naturally “inexperienced”; unlike some of their elders, who’ve got a lifetime’s “experience” of having their lives slavishly wrapped around politics and celebrity. They think and say only what their ‘leader’ tells them to think and say. They’re out of reach!

    But the young, on the other hand – because of their inexperience – still have a space in their heads to think clearly and objectively for themselves. Their elders call them ‘snowflakes’, but most observers know that that’s just an attempt to deflect the truth, ‘coz their elders are jealous and wary of the young.

    And the young have recently spoke. The recently-deposed Ogre-in-Chief was removed largely by the young, the same young who generally couldn’t be bothered to vote in previous elections; but who felt they HAD to vote this time, ‘coz they didn’t wanna live in a backward-thinking country run by a fascist dictator.

    It’s the clear-thinking young who are gonna drag America kicking and screaming into becoming a modern-thinking country; it’s the young who’re gonna fully embrace other cultures (as oppossed to being paranoid of them); it’s the young who’re gonna embrace a world outside North America (not be afraid of it). It’s the young who will eventually cause the abolishment of America’s depraved and twisted gun-laws; it’s the young who will see their fellow citizens only as fellow Americans.. and not as Republicans or Democrats . . . only the young can give America the full benefit of their inexperience!

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Monty, you must have missed the latest political developments here in America. It wasn’t the youth who swayed the election results and no archaic quote from the late, great Mr. Wilde will ever tap into the murky realms of cybertheft.

      Reply
    • C.B. Anderson

      Monty, if you think the young think clearly, then you have been traveling abroad longer than is good for any understanding of what is really going on. Miseducation is now the norm, and you elevate the miseducated to some mystical status whereby they will release us from our mental fetters. The opposite is true; unless something is done, we will all be living in the gutters, but perhaps you think that is a good thing. The U.S. melting pot was never meant to become a shithole, and I think that one of the reasons you travel far and wide is that you can’t bear to be too close to the self-destruction of most of Europe.

      Reply
      • Monty

        You’ve hit it right on the head, CB. There are two chief reasons why I spend a chunk of the year in Asia (mainly Nepal). One reason is because the Nepalese people are, in my eyes, the friendliest humans on the planet, surrounded by the most dramatic landscape; and the second reason is because I’m finding it increasingly difficult to be in Central Europe these days, owing to the “self-destruction” of which you speak. What with all this political-correctness/bureaucracy, etc, and all the (near-daily) terrorist-attacks on the public . . I just don’t wanna be there any more. If I was financially able, I would’ve been living full-time in Nepal long before now: but I’m not! Hence, I’m forced to spend 6/7 months of the year in France in order to earn the money which funds my travels for the rest of the year.

        As it stands now, knowing that I’ve got my winters away just about enables me to tolerate spending a half-year in Europe. But by the time I’m 65 (7 year’s time) I hope to be in Nepal full-time for the rest of my days; and visit Europe for just one month every year to see chums in England and France.

        Regarding the young in America “thinking clearly” (and when I say ‘young’, I’m talking generally about those aged between, say, 12 and 26): perhaps I should qualify my claim by elaborating that today’s young – because of the internet – have got the ability and facility to think for themselves if they so wish (which previous generations were denied); and thinking for one’s self generally means thinking clearly. I feel that ‘miseducation’ WAS the norm, but no longer IS the norm. There was a time when the very basis of their upbringing and education was firmly centred around indoctrinating them with the ‘miseducation’ that white Americans were the most superior race on the globe, and all other creeds and nations were either inferior or enemies (or both).. and that everything in America was the biggest and the best. The obvious dangers and ramifications of such a false belief have always been exemplified by the institutionalised and irretrievable xenophobia of many Americans, and their clear aversion to venturing outside North America. And it wasn’t even their fault! How could they be blamed for being xenophobic if they were educated in xenophobia?

        Another facet of their ‘miseducation’ was how they were raised to believe in all that malarkey about ‘the American dream’ and the ‘perfect system of existence’. It was instilled into them from the off; and by the time they’d reached the age of young adulthood and were capable of seeing the glaring cracks in the surface . . it was too late! They dared not look at the cracks, ‘coz they didn’t wanna see or hear anything which went against all they’d ever been told. And any who DID dare question ‘the dream’ would’ve quickly been labelled as ‘problem kids’.. ‘delinquents’.. ‘black-sheep’, etc.

        Hence my belief that generations of Americans happened to be miseducated, not only in an academic sense, but in the much more important sense of life-education: life-skills: life-values: harmony. But then . . along came the internet! And the young – embracing it fully – suddenly had access to the outside world, hence the option of an alternative education. They had the option of educating themselves; broadening their horizons; exploring (albeit electronically) other peoples; other cultures; gaining global awareness . . . thus they’re the first generation of young who’ve been able to compare the American existence to other existences; to compare it to modern-thinking countries who’re trying to become more environmentally efficient; who don’t allow guns; who don’t give their police the powers to murder with impunity without any questions being asked; who don’t expect their citizens to pay for their own medicines/health-care, etc. And the American young have compared all this with their own country’s nonsensical constitution, which could only be of any value if the world hadn’t changed one little bit in the last 200 years!

        And because the young are now in a position to see things more clearly, to think more clearly.. they’ve recently voted not just for change, but big change. Not just a change of government, but a change of the whole corrupt, unfair, and unequal system of existence, from bottom to top. And as such, I believe it was the young who turned the recent election-victory into a landslide. And one hopes that the young are able to reap the benefits of their actions by having the chance to live and raise their own families in a completely different America than the one they see at the moment.

        And it just might be the case that history will eventually deem today’s American young as being the saviours of their nation.

    • David Paul Behrens

      Monty, your comments remind me of an old song by Bob Dylan:

      Come mothers and fathers
      Throughout the land
      And don’t criticize
      What you can’t understand
      Your sons and your daughters
      Are beyond your command
      Your old road is rapidly agin’
      Please get of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
      For the times they are a-changin’

      Reply
      • DPB

        Sorry for the typo. Should be as follows:

        Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand.

      • Monty

        I’m glad you added the missing word ‘out’; it’s important in the context of the narrative:

        “Your old road is rapidly ageing.
        Please get ‘out’ of the new (road)
        If you can’t lend a hand . . “

        . . and what’s more, those words are currently as potent and relevant in America as they were when they were first penned.

      • Monty

        ‘Whenever people agree with me, I always feel that I must’ve said something wrong’.. Wilde.

  3. Margaret Coats

    Susan, with the rondeau, you provide a sharp, clear focus on one aspect of this enormous difficulty. Christopher, you go deeper and deeper into the entire quagmire. It is such a solemn dilemma that it seems trivial to call your rhymes clever, even though they are. The final section in italics resounds with the shock that tore the republic when the cowardly decision was announced.

    Reply
    • Christopher Flint

      Margaret —

      Thank you for recognizing the strength, the gravity, and the uniqueness of both works.

      Your praise of my rhyme touches me very deeply, and your sense of my purpose even moreso.

      Christopher

      Reply
      • Susan Jarvis Bryant

        Christopher, your poem is outstanding. Your well wrought poetic exposé should have everyone who values the validity of their vote crying out at the injustice of this rigged election. It’s a pleasure to share the page with you.

    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Yes, thank you very much, Margaret, for your expert eye and spot on comment, which always add so much to the poetry publishing experience.

      Reply
  4. C.B. Anderson

    Susan, I can scarcely believe that you referenced Orson Scott Card. Ender’s Game is one of my favorite science fiction novels. But did you know that for many years he published a poetry website called Strong Verse? He actually paid $10 to the author of every poem he ever published there. Suddenly and mysteriously this venue became inactive, but here is a link to the many poems of mine he published:

    http://www.strongverse.org/cgi-bin/poiesis.pl?search=Anderson_C_B&header=poet&category=poem&method=perfect&order_by=number&order=cba&template=poem

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      C.B., what an utterly intriguing story. I’m glad my chosen quote produced this link to many of your poems – delightful! What a mysterious and magical world we live in.

      Reply
      • Christopher Flint

        Susan —

        As a newcomer to these pages, I appreciate your reaction a great deal.

        I found your play on “dominion” extremely clever and well executed.
        I wtite a lot in iambic tetrameter too, so I appreciate your predominate meter more than others might. It forcefully dignified capitalizing on the haunting meaning and marketability of your “dominon” echo. I too am grateful to be in good company.

  5. BDW

    I am glad to see Ms. Bryant’s poem on the Dominion voting machines
    that on their own stole the 2020 election from Republicans and Donald Trump. I had a poem on the exact same topic last month, and though Mr. Mantyk rejected it, I got it printed elsewhere on the Internet; and I appreciate Mr. Mantyk’s focus on voter fraud.

    Ms. Bryant’s rondeau is definitely needed; and I would hope we would continue to expose the fraud these machines have done to the USA every month (every week, every day) until we are rid of these Democratic cheating machines, planned now to still be used in Georgia this next month.

    Also kudos to Mr. Flint for his rousing, patriotic anapestic tetrameters indicting the Supreme Court as an existential threat against the laws of these United States. Who could have dreamed that “the seven” would abdicate their duty and responsibility to the citizens of these United States. This poem shows the heart-felt anguish that millions (a majority of America’s actual voters) feel right now. And we should not let up. As Mr. Flint indirectly suggests, we must continue to fight on. Finally, to make his poem even more memorable, Mr. Flint could fine tune his meter and punctuation.

    Reply
  6. Christopher Flint

    BDW —

    I apprecciate both your characterizations and your critique. The meter is actually anapestic trimeter. It is not a form I use a great deal in works of this seriousness and length. The words that had to be accomodated simply were not going to let me use my much preferred iambic tetrameter or pentameter. Though I strive for precision, the tone I was trying to achieve resulted in some less-stressed-and-more-stressed situations rather than pure unstressed-and-stressed. No doubt, to your point, the meter could be improved, but the time constraint did not permit the additional effort.

    As for punctuation, I try to inject it only where I think a reasonably apt reader absolutely requires it, and I recognize the potential for legitimate misgiving that can create. Your point is well taken. I give that a great deal of thought, regardless of time constraints, but I know my approach can certainly invite legtimate argument about the degree of clarity and pace I have achieved. I appreciate your attention to that detail. I rarely permit myself to be so rushed, but had no choice here.

    Reply
    • BDW

      Mr. Flint is correct. It is three beats per line, not four; and I find it fascinating, because that is not a common meter. Driven to the meter by diction and disappointment has created its intensity. It has a driving, disquieting, unresolved beat.

      In this case, because it was rushed, I think the poem is more genuine. But because the idea of indicting the Supreme Court is so good, I think you should tweak it and send it out to the World. It is an American cri de coeur.

      Reply
      • Christopher Flint

        I appreciate your perception and praise more than you could possibly know. I will certainly continue to refine the work as time permits, but I fear its moment will likely too soon be lost. It is typically a limerick meter that is very difficult to keep from finding its more lilting roots that would detract from my purpose here. Revision is made all the more difficult because what you are seeing is abridged from a slightly longer, more emotional version that I felt too many folks would find unpalatably harsh. That is more likely the version I will try to send to the world — after some carefully considered retooling.

  7. Christopher Flint

    Susan —

    Please forgive the inadvertent typos in my response to you. The phone is a far less than powerful text editor in my hands.

    Reply
  8. BDW

    I wonder if Mr. Flint’s longer poem contained the rumour that Swamp Chief Justice Roberts yelled at the other eight justices, screaming, “Are you going to be responsible for the rioting if we take this case?”

    Reply
    • Christopher Flint

      No, the omitted stanzas do not speak expressly to what Mr. Roberts is alleged to have said, but they do very accurately predict, and very grimly condemn, the incredibly specious, cowardly mental gymnastics that would explain his alleged outburst.

      How the court might have spoken to one another and what they might have said, however, don’t really matter. The malice of their 7 – 2 decision against America by avoidance was vicious dereliction.

      I chose to leave that reality implied in the last line of the work as published because I thought that the truth would be tastefully self-evident.

      Clearly, the court is now — by three times denying the Constitution in this crisis — attempting to disenfranchise every legal voter in America, indeed every legal citizen (we also have a right to vote by not casting a ballot). In any case, seven so-called justices have made it clear that they believe only nine votes matter in America. And those don’t require any review of fact and evidence.

      Reply
  9. Mike Bryant

    Susan, I love your way with words and form. Brief and hard-hitting.
    Christopher, I believe you’ve covered every angle of this miscarriage of justice admirably and forcefully.

    Reply
    • Christopher Flint

      Mike —

      I appreciate your reaction. I tried to be thorough, at least implicitly, about the ongoing theft of due process.

      In my judgment, those who knowingly commit or abet fraud to steal presidential and down ballot federal elections are guilty of treason. Those inciting, orchestrating and conducting massive efforts to intentionally and unlawfully assault due process in order to hinder the prosecution of such treason — or to hinder the prevention of its unlawful consequence — are accessories to treason and guilty of sedition.

      It is the foregoing or obstructing of fair and timely due process that will nullify our liberty and forcibly shred the Constitution of our sovereign Republic, a document that by remarkably sound judgment, does NOT establish the mob rule of a “democracy”.

      Seven members of the Supreme Court appear to be spitting in our faces and trampling on the graves that commemorate the noblest sacrifice — and the greatest progress — the world has ever known. If those seven succeed, their unprecedented treachery will live in infamy.

      Tragically, covering truly all the angles — that some have likely underestimated as “…a thousand cuts…” — would require many more stanzas. Poets must be content to establish awareness concretely, and pray that others will successfully prosecute detail.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Christopher Flint Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Captcha loading...

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.