.

Shining Armor

The knights roll in. They have a rift to heal—
A rift that stokes the embers of despair.
With grit they steer their trusty steeds of steel.

They come in peace to seal a vital deal
With he who rules the realm—a doctrinaire.
The knights roll in. They have a rift to heal.

They bear the sting of lies with zing and zeal,
Aware of icy tyranny’s grim glare.
With grit they steer their trusty steeds of steel.

“Those knights are Nazis!” is the spiteful spiel
From loathsome lips that spit false claims of care.
The knights roll in. They have a rift to heal.

Each living soul should have the right to feel
The bliss of freedom’s kiss—a right we share.
With grit they steer their trusty steeds of steel—

Those truckers with their bold and brave appeal
To save souls from oppression’s vicious snare.
The knights roll in. They have a rift to heal—
With grit they steer their trusty steeds of steel.

.

.

Busted 

As truth emerged, unfurled and flew
He cursed bright souls who saw right through
The slick disguise that masked the lies
He told to trick and hypnotize
And shatter every crystal clue.

The truth swept in. It breezed and blew
Down every shady avenue.
The swindled gazed with stricken eyes
__As truth emerged.

The truth, it surged. It gushed and grew
Until the irked and hoodwinked knew
He’d come to damn and demonize
The honorable, naïve, and wise…
Still Trudeau pushed his twisted view
__As truth emerged.

.

.

Susan Jarvis Bryant is from Kent, England.  She is now an American citizen living on the coastal plains of Texas.  Susan has poetry published in the UK webzine, Lighten Up On Line, The Daily Mail, and Openings (anthologies of poems by Open University Poets).


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25 Responses

  1. Margaret Coats

    We need these, Susan. I will remember that perfect couplet of refrains from “Shining Armor” for a long time. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you, Margaret. These brave men and the Canadian people supporting them have been let down horribly by their government, just as many other countries have been let down by theirs. My heart aches for them.

      Reply
  2. Joseph S. Salemi

    What no one seems to notice is that the savage hatred being expressed for the Canadian truckers is coming from persons who call themselves “leftists” and “friends of the working class.” The sheer obscenity of this claim is evident when you look at Trudeau and his supporters: overentitled yuppie technocrats and globalists who are in the upper bourgeoisie or higher, and who spout the vilest kind of contempt for anyone who disagrees with their viewpoints, or who happens to work for an honest living.

    Justin Trudeau is a lying, self-absorbed narcissist who can’t even conceive that there actually might be people who don’t think the way he does.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you for these words Joseph. I am a Canadian citizen who cannot even stand to look at Justin Trudeau’s face…. I am so upset. I see absolutely no signs of empathy in his face, only obstinate egotism.

      Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Joe, everything you say is true – sadly. The sheer hypocrisy of these times never fails to hurt my heart and (I’m sorry to admit it) surprise me. Why is that? I’ve seen so many countries beaten back by their government… why did I have so much hope for these Canadian truckers? Perhaps it’s because we’re next.

      Reply
  3. Sally Cook

    Susan J. B. my dear —

    These are honest men; the kind who established our nation.
    Now their government is trashing the Canadian rights we always thought we were aligned with. Susan — right on the mark per usual, and Joe – you see the big picture.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you very much for your voice of sanity, dear Sally, and your compassionate observations. What has the world come to?! Poets are pretty good at creating a sun-kissed nook in a world of storm clouds… I hope my pen veers in that direction… soon. My good wishes are winging their way to you.

      Reply
  4. David Watt

    Susan, ‘The bliss of freedom’s kiss’ should be the expectation, as you rightly say. Unfortunately, Trudeau and his mates won’t have a bar of that.
    I read that they are now threatening to seize and euthanize the trucker’s pets!
    Those truckers are displaying admirable moral fiber.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      I agree with you, David. Those truckers are ‘displaying admirable moral fiber’. To seize and euthanize pets by way of punishment is the epitome of evil. I am certain this type of cruelty is a warning to all those who are thinking of rising up against a tyrannical government… they’re using psychological warfare to keep control. Moral fiber is what’s needed. Let’s hope the good people of this world don’t run out the precious stuff before it’s too late. Thank you, as ever, for your informative comments.

      Reply
      • Susan Jarvis Bryant

        David, just to add – seizing and euthanizing pets is indeed the epitome of evil… but, so is freezing bank accounts, seizing trucks, forced-vaccination, especially of young children, beating and arresting peaceful protesters, and demonizing brave citizens who want a peaceful end to the iron-fisted governance oppressing them. The list goes on.

  5. C.B. Anderson

    You have exposed Trudeau as the “true Dough,” the true playdough, that is. Or perhaps, rather, the true Mr. Potatohead, where features and expressions can be attached at will, as a matter of convenience instead of an indication of inner integrity or coherence.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      C.B., your comment has captured the weird and waxy face of a wicked dictator who appears to have sold his soul to the devil. How can anyone be so cold and emotionless? Silly question. It’s happened before and it will happen again… I just don’t want to believe it.

      Reply
  6. Brian Yapko

    Susan, I love both of these poems both for the superbly wrought prosody of both but, moreso, for the gutsy message you have presented. I love your “knight” metaphor. I also love (in the worst way) the phrase “loathsome lips that spit false claims of care” because that just about says it, doesn’t? I think your choice of a villanelle for the message is a strong one which presents repetitions and variations both on the knights’ acts of bravery and acts of tyranny. The contrast could not be more striking.

    Your rondeau is also superb. I love the irony of using a traditional French form to put an uncomfortable spotlight on a French Canadian tyrant. You actually treat him with greater restraint than I think I could possibly have managed. Trudeau seems to be so amazingly, superiorly woker-than-thou that he’s completely lost touch with what an illiberal fascist schmuck he actually is. That’s what happens when someone believes everything he thinks. What dictator doesn’t think he’s a nice guy as he kills and maims for what he thinks is a higher cause?

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Brian, thank you very much for your words of appreciation and for your astute comment that captures the nature of Trudeau perfectly. Is this “illiberal fascist schmuck” (spot on term) getting ever more fascist and schmuckish by the hour?! The rondeau was written over a week ago… Trudeau has gone full-on demon since then. Let’s hope he sees the light before it’s too darn late… I’m still hoping and praying. Thank you too for keeping the spotlight shining on skullduggery… it needs to be out in the open not swept under the rug.

      Reply
  7. Norma Pain

    Thank you Susan for these two amazing poems. They say a lot of what I am thinking, except much more creatively.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Norma, thank you very much for your comment – I appreciate your words and sincerely hope the people of Canada will triumph over this evil. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

      Reply
  8. Jeff Eardley

    Susan, once again you have hit the spot. I have the greatest respect for truck drivers who have been the unsung heroes of the last couple of years. Trudeau often inspires the expression,”smarmy git” over here. I would prefer the company of those moustachioed tough guys anyday. “Busted” is a masterpiece.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Jeff, thank you very much for your kind, appreciative, and hilarious comment, which has encouraged me to mail Trudeau Mike’s plastic Christmas-cracker moustache to pin to his mindless, smarmy-git, potato head… which is growing increasingly smarmy by the hour.

      Reply
  9. Jack DesBois

    Susan, I’ve had a breakthrough reading your villanelle. I’ve always been befuddled by the way those repeated lines always put the brakes on any forward momentum, but I think I understand better now – forward momentum isn’t quite the point of a villanelle. It’s more like theme-and-variation, where each stanza adds a new dimension to the theme. Or like a good song, where the accumulating verses give the refrain more power each time it comes along.

    The past month has certainly been an emotional rollercoaster for freedom-fans cheering on the Canadian truckers (and there has been a bit more at stake here than at a sporting event). It’s not over, though; the fire is still there among those protesters, and it has spread worldwide through their efforts in Ottawa. I’ll be watching closely to see what happens next.

    And America’s next! https://thepeoplesconvoy.org/ Unfortunately, I don’t think any trucker convoys are going to be heading my direction. The People’s Republic of Maskachusetts would never allow such riff-raff over the border.

    As for Trudeau, he’s put himself between a rock and a hard place – him and all his World Economic Forum Young Leader graduate comrades (Boris Johnson and Jacinda Ardern among them). On the one hand, his people are rising up against him; on the other, the globalist mob boss (Klaus Schwab?) is probably threatening his family. No wonder his instinct is to run and hide. It’s his own fault, and it’s caused untold suffering for the tens of millions under his thumb, but it’s still a sad situation, and I pray he can save himself. Spiritually, I mean; I don’t think there’s much hope materially for the likes of him in the long run.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you for your comments, Jack. I love your take on the villanelle from a songwriting perspective. I like the use of repetition – like a song’s refrain, it elevates the main crux of the message, making the point memorable. I also like the hypnotic beauty of repetition – the soothing intonations of a message infused with peace and joy, as in the one below:

      A Timeless Villanelle

      Let time be still; preserve and freeze
      the bliss of this delicious day;
      this dreamy state of seamless ease

      where skin drinks in the sun-soaked breeze
      and saffron gilds the gloom of grey.
      Let time be still; preserve and freeze

      the zephyr’s tease in leafy trees
      and scents of hyacinths and hay.
      This dreamy state of seamless ease,

      it quells the swell and shifts the seas
      of destiny to due delay.
      Let time be still, preserve and freeze

      the lift that brings me to my knees
      in praise of Gaia’s gifts; replay
      this dreamy state of seamless ease.

      Stop the clock’s tick-tocking! Seize
      tomorrow, make it melt away…
      let time be still; preserve and freeze
      this dreamy state of seamless ease.

      As you can see, I’m passionate about form and I’m learning about poetry every day. Thank you for indulging me.

      On the Canadian trucker front, people never fail to surprise me. Just when I think the world and those inhabiting it can’t get any more cruel – honest, caring people rise up in their multitudes to make their concerns heard in peace, with dignity. It restores my faith in humankind and makes me feel I’m not alone. Such is the beauty of this site. When I meet with people who have the same interests and concerns, it makes me happier and bolder of voice. Jack, you have also humbled me. Your gracious attitude towards Trudeau is a shining example – one should pray for such people. They are truly sick and pitiable. A heart that doesn’t know the meaning of love can never be at ease. I appreciate your words.

      Reply
  10. Adam Wasem

    What a charming conceit, that working class truckers should embody the brave and chivalric knightly virtues, while their “betters” embody the craven and tyrannical opposite. It provides a disarming entree into such a fraught and grim subject, while pointing up the contrast between our expectations and reality. The government-big tech-media tyranny and propaganda has become so omnipresent and pervasive that it’s difficult to know where to start addressing it, and I appreciate your imaginatively ironic takes on it.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you very much for your perspicacious comment, Adam. How does a poet deal with such a complex subject matter and still make a valid impression? I’m learning. I decided to take the mild approach with this one. There are other subjects I feel so strongly about, I’m much harsher and louder in my depiction. My mind says the truckers’ endeavors are futile. The outcome is already written in the dusty tomes of history… but my heart thinks… this time it’s going to be different, even though other countries have failed in this global dilemma, this war of good against evil – not left against right, not black against white… just plain old good against evil. I’m grateful for your insight and I hope my heart is right.

      Reply
  11. Joseph S. Salemi

    Even if the truckers lose their fight, they have accomplished something powerful. First, they have shown our elitist tyrants that they are cordially hated by a vast section of the population; second, that Mainstream Media and its paid whores-on-retainer are despised and disbelieved; and third, that Justin Trudeau is a wannabe little Hitler who hasn’t the slightest respect for law or the traditional rights of protest and speech. They have also wrecked his political career, which is what he’s really angrier about than the blockade.

    Trudeau is a piece of excrement, just like Biden. We can say that publicly here in the United States, while Canadians in the new Soviet Union of the North can only think it.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Joe, your comment has heartened me. It’s easy to give in to thoughts of defeat while the peaceful Canadian protesters are being treated so appallingly, but they have achieved much in the eyes of the world. The majority of us should now be aware of exactly who and what we are dealing with. Truth always shines a glaring spotlight on evil, and I can see this light shining brighter every day. I pity those who close their eyes and turn their back on it.

      Reply
      • Joseph S. Salemi

        Here is a quote from the late P.J. O’Rourke that describes Justin Trudeau to a T–

        “At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child–miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic, and useless. Liberalism is a philosophy of snivelling brats.”

        The peaceful truckers have had their donated funds stolen, their livelihoods threatened, their property confiscated, their free speech and right to demonstrate violated, and their civil freedoms cancelled. Canada has no Bill of Rights, so this was eminently possible at any time. But now Trudeau has, after his illegal arrogation of supreme power, gone in exactly the direction that liberalism has lusted after — he has declared a wide range of firearms illegal, and subject to seizure by the government. Anyone surprised?

        Even Adolf Hitler waited until he could get an Enabling Act passed to assume dictatorial powers. Trudeau has acted without a shred of legality or due process.

        To all my readers: If you’re still stupid enough to vote for the Democrats, that’s precisely what will happen here.

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