Transgender bathroom signPoems on ‘Modern Times’ and Transgenderism by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society August 24, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 36 Comments . Modern Times . I. The Cutting-Edge Misogynist He slams the bland and damned old-fashioned type— Those tiresome dinosaurs born with a womb— The sexless species of the XX stripe— The sort he states must bow and give more room To fakes who ache to take the world by storm— Those flocks of gloating blokes in fancy frocks Who claim that gals with goolies are the norm— Those preening chanticleers—those sparring cocks Who whoop and crow on stealing every cup In women’s sports. He tosses truth aside For beefy cheats now on the up and up— The frauds who strut their stubbled stuff with pride. Behind his glib facade of bogus care For rock-hard, rapey males in women’s jail, He takes his two-faced time to stop and stare At trans-free porn. This man’s beyond the pale! This snake who scoffs at differences between us Would never bed a woman with a penis. . II. The Contemporary Child Catcher Assisted by zipped lips the fiends appear. Spurred on by bended knee and blinded eye, They crush the blush of innocence and cheer. They slither in to bend the tender ear. Their wily words of wonder hide the lie. Assisted by zipped lips the fiends appear. Their grinning faces shade the grimmest sneer. They poke and probe and push and prod and pry. They crush the blush of innocence and cheer. A boy in pink? A girl in blue? Oh dear! They’ll fix it so the brain and frame comply. Assisted by zipped lips the fiends appear. They fog and faze and dupe and drug with sheer Disdain for dolts who dare to question why They crush the blush of innocence and cheer. With sleight of hand they spread their brand of fear— These ghouls grow rich when fruitful futures die. Assisted by zipped lips the fiends appear. They crush the blush of innocence and cheer. . III. The 21st Century Minor My mother’s like no other, that is why I toss and turn and fret most every night. Poor Mommy isn’t normal, I won’t lie— The sight of her just doesn’t seem quite right. The mommies nowadays have hairy chests. These furry birthing persons are so cool. My Mommy is the kind the world detests— A straight, cisgender, family-focused fool. I like the she who reads down at the library. Her rhinestone thong and pasties are so neat! My mom is plain and small and ordinary And trots along on silly little feet. If Mother had a boa and a beard She wouldn’t be embarrassingly weird. . . Brink We’re on the brink of something grim— The edge of something scary. We tread the ledge the fiendish skim With senses keen and wary Of those who creep and those who crawl, Of those who scale the garden wall With fangs that pierce and claws that maul, And feral eyes of cherry— Our plumpest chances (now twig slim) Are hampered by the hairy. We wade through rising tides of lies That flood our fitful dreams. We huddle neath the muddy skies— Our silver-lining schemes Lie shredded in the garden shed As gruesome rumors bleed then spread— These beastly deeds of ceaseless dread Will tug at fraying seams Of sanity till whispered sighs Are shrieking-banshee screams… We’re on the brink of something grim— The edge of something scary. First published in Snakeskin . . Susan Jarvis Bryant has poetry published on Lighten Up Online, Snakeskin, Light, Sparks of Calliope, and Expansive Poetry Online. She also has poetry published in TRINACRIA, Beth Houston’s Extreme Formal Poems anthology, and in Openings (anthologies of poems by Open University Poets in the UK). Susan is the winner of the 2020 International SCP Poetry Competition, and has been nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize. 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. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Trending now: 36 Responses Roy Eugene Peterson August 24, 2023 Sensational satire in the first three poems with the scary prognostication in the fourth. I am glad that the four-poem set was published. Your unique blend of British and American words and terms always are as fascinating as they are focused with trenchant takes. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 Roy, I simply had to write these. My Muse informs me there is plenty of beauty in universal truths… and for all those who tell my Muse there isn’t – she couldn’t give a swiving hump! Roy, thank you for your appreciative comment. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 I would like to add… my Muse is the voice of the children who are being drugged, neutered, and mutilated at an unprecedented level. I cannot and will not remain silent! Russel Winick August 24, 2023 Nobody gets their messages across like you, Susan. When I see your posts, I stop everything to read them, usually multiple times. You never let me down. And I remember, not many years ago, reading about a school district that wanted boys who identified as girls to be allowed to use the girls’ gym locker rooms – in junior high – and girls or parents who protested would be punished. I thought to myself, “no one could be that crazy!” I’ll certainly never think that about Leftists again. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 Russel, thank you for your support. I thoroughly appreciate it. I am certain your “no one could be that crazy!” will resonate with many in a world that has gone beyond the realms of crazy and is fast sinking into depravity. I think it’s gone beyond a left/right divide and is fast veering towards the pure evil realm, where politics should be left behind and we should all (as decent human beings) stand together against experimenting on children Mengele-style, leaving them wounded mentally and physically. Every non-reversible transgender operation is experimental. Reply Sally Cook August 24, 2023 Susan, I am in complete agreement with the tenor of your poems. So awful to be forced and tricked into such an evil lie, There is an awful certainty about them. Thank you for these. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 Dear Sally, thank you so very much for your astute comment. You’re right, there is an awful certainty about these poems. Thank you for reading them… I am hoping by not turning our backs on this “evil lie” (you are quite right), we can turn this sick situation around. There are many who have gone through these wicked procedures who are standing up right now to warn others… but it’s tough for them to get their voices heard. I appreciate your support. Reply Leland James August 24, 2023 Daring. Love all the double meanings, traditional in such poems. Laughed out loud a couple times. Your poem brings to mind the Greek poet Sotades, famous for a risky line I won’t repeat that got him imprisoned. He escaped but was captured and shut up in a leaden chest which was thrown into the sea. I admire your courage. Hope our intrepid FBI and CIA are not reading SCP. Let them rend their clothes. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 Thank you, Leland. I’m glad you found the poems amusing. Thank you for taking the time to read and to comment. You make valid points about the artist’s voice in today’s society. What a dreadful shame that poets of an opposing viewpoint to the forced mainstream doctrine are made to cow in fear for veering from the PC message. I’m certainly not courageous… I just happen to think the future of my new granddaughter depends upon her grandmother speaking up just as my grandparents stood up for me. Reply Norma Pain August 24, 2023 Thank you Susan for your continuing poetic crusade against all of the evil that is targeting our children and youth. These poems are amazing as usual. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 Norma, it’s great to hear from you and I’m thoroughly grateful for your support. Satire matters… it’s a wonderful medium for getting a grave message across and (in my opinion) has earned its place alongside pastoral pennings. Reply Julian D. Woodruff August 24, 2023 If you want to give these ghouls a bruisin’ Sick on them raging rhyming Susan. Though we prize your uniqueness, Susan, unfortunately the perverts, their enablers, and their defenders–the enemies of kids from their birth until they reach adult hood–are many: teachers, school boards, librarians, nurses and doctors, politicians and judges. Maybe the worst of it is that many are also parents. As a result, many voices are needed to denounce them and their agenda. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 25, 2023 Julian, it’s always wonderful to have a comment from you… especially when it rhymes! Thank you! Sadly, I agree with you. Many voices are needed to denounce this sick ideology… small breakthroughs are being made… but small is not good enough. Reply Cynthia Erlandson August 24, 2023 “Those preening chanticleers, those sparring cocks” — “trans-free porn” — So many phrases dense with important meaning and dark humor. You have a great ability to write about current political and social trends without losing any of your poetic finesse! This is truly such a crucial issue; and the consequences of the horrifying psychological, emotional, and spiritual damage done to these people will be passed down to future generatiuons. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 25, 2023 Cynthia, your comment is dear to me – thank you. I am thrilled you reveled in my love of words and literature and none of the embellishments got swallowed up in the satirical sweep. The main point you make (a point I missed when replying to Russel) is the spiritual damage inflicted upon the naive. My heart aches to think of the mental, physical, and spiritual wounds inflicted by those who care more for their bank balance than they do for the children they ruin. Reply Joseph S. Salemi August 24, 2023 This transgender freak show is now out of control, and Susan Bryant is one of the few poets standing up to defend children against the predatory vermin who want to mutilate and brainwash them. These are four great poems, Susan. The last one (“Brink”) is now perhaps outdated, since the world seems to have gone over the brink. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 25, 2023 Joe, thank you! With a heavy heart, I have to admit that “Brink” is probably outdated. How much of this sick path do we have to be forced to tread before realizing there’s no turning back? I’m still holding on to hope… hope that many more will stand up and shout “NO!” – even if we’ve reached a point of no return, we cannot turn a blind eye to the brainwashing and mutilation of our children. Reply Joshua C. Frank August 24, 2023 When males with painted nails Insist they’re dames, There’s Susan’s muse who flails Their baleful games! All of these are wonderful. The first one, I especially love stanza 4 and the couplet! I had to look up “goolies,” and laughed when I did. Is anyone really surprised that nothing turns off a straight man more than a “woman” who is so clearly a man? Even married couples who ignore natural sex roles engage in marital intimacy less often: https://www.livescience.com/26696-housework-makes-men-less-sexy.html The second, my favorite line is, “These ghouls grow rich when fruitful futures die,” also the refrain, “They crush the blush of innocence and cheer.” Both are true not just of transgenderism-pushers, but the entire system. Children’s classics written over a hundred years ago were saying the modern world was not suitable for children… what would the writers say of today? On second thought, I don’t have to ask; you’re saying it for them. The third one is also really good; it summarizes the modern world’s view through a child speaker: “My Mommy is the kind the world detests—/A straight, cisgender, family-focused fool.” Like the Beatles’ song “Happiness Is a Warm Gun,” it gets the message across by saying its opposite. It also reminds me of your couplet, “Alack, the women most revered/Are those who have a cock and beard,” which even your detractors remember well! The last one is very well done, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to agree with Joe Salemi: it’s outdated, because we’ve passed the brink of something scary and are sliding down into scarier and scarier things. When I went to YouTube to look at parts 2 and 3 of Andrew Brown’s latest episode, I saw that I couldn’t even open the page without seeing clickbait for some truly evil things I won’t describe here. Perhaps the reason people fear Hell less is because our world is becoming more like Hell every day. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 25, 2023 Joshua, thank you very much for your generous and informative comment, and for the opening poem. I always have huge fun with words and have never suffered for my art… until now. These poems wouldn’t have existed a few years ago, and I am saddened that my inspiration to write comes from sources that horrify me. As I’ve mentioned to Joe, “Brink” does appear outdated, and it was only written a very short time ago. That is how swiftly the grip of tyranny is squeezing the life out of every liberty we’ve enjoyed for so long. I especially like your observation: ““My Mommy is the kind the world detests—/A straight, cisgender, family-focused fool.” Like the Beatles’ song “Happiness Is a Warm Gun,” it gets the message across by saying its opposite.” That is the sheer beauty of art… it allows the poet to play with words… to shape and to color them… to sculpt them into something impacting… something unusual… something memorable. I’d like to pick up on Joe’s “Art for art’s sake” take on another post. Whatever a poet’s message, the craft he uses is the most important aspect. No poet should HAVE to explain the reason for the poem’s existence. No poet should HAVE to make apologies for the angle at which they’ve viewed society. First and foremost a poem IS Art, and its message is secondary. The craft of the piece is paramount. Artists may use their gift to get a grave message across – but that’s the artist’s business, no one else’s. As poets we have a choice on whether to engage trolls who are out to slate every piece we write. I used to. I used to do it for all the readers who didn’t know where I was coming from. I wanted to explain, defend my work, let readers know I had a heart, and my works were born of care. NO MORE! If people cannot see what is going on around them now, if readers do not understand my words… I don’t have to explain them. I’m a poet not a journalist. Josh, keep on doing what you do, and you should NEVER feel you HAVE to explain… it’s Art. As for the article on men doing the housework… I’ve found the more housework a man does, the sexier he is in my eyes! 😉 Reply Mike Bryant August 25, 2023 Hmmmmmmmmmm Joshua C. Frank August 26, 2023 Thank you, Susan. Just as you had to admit with a heavy heart that “Brink” is outdated after so little time, I similarly must admit that engaging trolls benefits no one. At one point, it may have helped the readers… but at this point, that’s what our poetry is for. If they won’t listen to what we’re saying in our poetry, “neither will they believe if one rise again from the dead.” I think Joe is right that we have no need to justify writing what we write. If someone can’t read a poem saying that a man is a man and a woman is a woman, or one describing the evils of contraception and abortion, without going postal, then he needs to grow up and get a life. People who need a safe space because words hurt their feelings shouldn’t be reading poetry, at least not the real stuff. It is as I said when I was new here: “Never argue with the woke; You can’t convince such stubborn folk. Perhaps we’ll better meet our goals Deciding not to feed the trolls!” I understand about finding that a poem is outdated. In my poem “Texas Pride,” I wrote, “Flags pepper every Texas scene,” but even in the year and a half I’ve been here, this has become less and less true, and it’s become noticeable since I wrote that poem back in April. As for housework… well, given that I work in statistics, I should know better than to cite an article involving a “study!” 🙂 However, I’ve found the general principle to be true—the more people fit within the sex-based roles given to them by biology and tradition, both of which are good and willed by God, the more attractive they are to the opposite sex. This article shows examples of women’s romantic lives improving when they came to understand this: https://www.kolbecenter.org/genesis-2teaching-its-truth-to-women/ That being the case, how could anyone expect straight men to be as attracted to men in dresses calling themselves “women” as to actual women? Susan Jarvis Bryant August 28, 2023 Josh, your don’t-feed-the-trolls poetic advice speaks volumes to me at this very point in time. I have come to learn that anyone who judges the artist first and the art last has an ulterior motive that veers from the aesthetic appeal of a piece to push an agenda… and in doing so, the poem is written off simply because the content doesn’t appeal to an ideal. Josh, I love the article you’ve provided and would encourage all women to read it. The role of the wife and mother in society has been diminished and virtually erased. Women, men, and children have suffered as a result. I’ve asked Mike to hand back his duster. Thank you! Margaret Coats August 24, 2023 Susan, what I admire in your satirical slams at type characters (and examples exist, of course) is that the poems don’t smother the light. We can see through to the truly desirable type of mother, and to the real innocence of young children. This is important when good mothers are being told to bow out, and the age of innocence in children is constantly shortened, abused, or denied. I have the happy duty of writing epithalamia for three couples–one in their twenties, one in their thirties, and one not yet out of their teens. All of them have the brave intent of forming traditional families (God willing), and they are helped when supporters depict their enemies as ugly and false. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 25, 2023 Margaret, what a beautiful comment. I never want to ‘smother the light’… I want the light between my lines to shine on the darkness and reveal its ugliness. Thank you for letting me know I’m on the right track… it means a lot! It’s wonderful to hear you have the “happy duty of writing epithalamia for three couples” – how heartening to know the family life is still sought after and lauded. I know you’ll do a glorious job. Reply Brian A. Yapko August 25, 2023 These are four spectacular poems, Susan, which pull no punches and offer shots of truth that are unpleasant but which nonetheless must be faced – at least by responsible grown-ups who value reality over ideology. . Your “Modern Times” trio presents portraits of three people I hope I never meet. The character of the misogynist is gross, hypocritical and ubiquitous. There are some really choice lines here which I admire: “Tiresome dinosaurs born with a womb” really got me as well as “those flocks of gloating blokes in fancy frocks.” I always watch out when your internal-rhyme machine goes into overdrive because it usually bespeaks scathing sentiment and the calling out of lying hypocrites. Your “Child Catcher” (I love the reference to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) is a harsh indictment not just of the fiends but their entourage and audience of zipped lipped cowards who will not speak up. Who is worse here, the fiends or those who stay silently quiet while atrocities occur? The lawyer in me is reminded that silence implies consent. The atrocities by a minority cannot occur without the silence and inaction of the silent majority. The “21st Century Minor” is a skilled poem – it should be humorous – -phrases like “furry birthing persons” are inherently funny – but this poem actually made me ineffably sad. How much we give up as a society and as individuals because too many of us don’t have the cojones to speak out! Even something as primal and sacred as motherhood becomes corroded and degenerate. On your last poem… I unfortunately agree, Susan, with every commenter who has observed that the brink has been passed. But after the collapse occurs and the rebuilding begins, we will have on record observations of sanity and sense. That’s where your poetry comes in. It is solidly grounded in reality while at the same time being memorable and beautifully-crafted. It speaks to our times but it speaks to our grandchildren’s times as well. When they wonder “how did it ever come to this?” they’ll have poems like yours to explain our strange times. I am reminded of Yeats and his “Second Coming” with the memorable phrase “slouching toward Bethelehem.” He was a poet, not a politician. He did not prevent any of the evils of the world. And yet he gave voice to a nameless horror that had to be reckoned with. As do you. There has been a great deal of discussion on this site about what poetry should and shouldn’t do, what poets should or shouldn’t do. I have been very distracted these days and have not really had an opportunity to participate in these discussions. But now seems a good time to chime in. I have only one short credo regarding what poetry is and what it is we poets do (especially you who do it so well): through our art, we bear witness. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 26, 2023 Brian, I am most grateful to you for reading my poems closely and focusing on the ugliness of the sad society we now inhabit. I believe we may be at that point of no return (the comments here have inspired me to write a new poem with that very title) but it doesn’t mean we have to feed the big lie by going along to get along. This is the worst example we could set for our children – children whose innocence is purposefully exploited by those raking in riches; children experimented on using irreversible mind and body-altering drugs, then neutered and mutilated in experimental operations. They need us. They need us to be honest in a world full of lies – a tough call when we see the consequences of honesty in a society where speaking out against establishment ideals is labeled a “terroristic threat” by the arbiters of the “truth.” I particularly love your closing paragraph and the thought you’ve given to what poetry should and shouldn’t do. I have given this subject a great deal of thought. I could go on for paragraph after paragraph, but you say it all in your one short and enlightening credo. Sometimes, less really is more and your brief yet impacting words say it all for me: “through our art, we bear witness” is an observation that sings to my very soul. Thank you! Reply Steve Todd August 26, 2023 Finely crafted and razor sharp as usual Susan – great work. I particularly liked the unusual point of view (ie. the narrator) of the third poem. It makes the satire sting that little bit more, to my mind. It’s painful enough to watch a world worth fighting for gleefully engaged in crowdsourcing text for the longest suicide note in history. However, it seems even more tragic to consider those born in the aftermath, the children of the crater, who at best may only be able to feel the apathy of historical distance towards the hard-fought truths that perished or – at worst – a dismissive irritation born of the same self-rightous presentism which authored their demise. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 26, 2023 Steve, thank you very much for your encouraging comment and thank you for picking up on exactly what I was trying to get across in ‘The 21st Century Minor’. I believe satire is a little like the Sci-Fi genre – beneath the surface entertainment is a huge message about society that bears listening to. Of course, poetry is art and it’s wonderful to hear that my poems have amused those reading them… but I thoroughly appreciate the readers who peer beneath the surface ripple of laughter to the depths where the monster lurks. You make some spot-on observations about those born in the aftermath of the Western world’s demise… observations that should make those who are silent vocal. Thanks again! Reply Mia August 26, 2023 Dear Susan, every line is a gem and I can’t choose which I like best. I can’t add much to the very knowledgable comments here either, except to say thank you. Let us hope that more and more people will speak out. I saw a clip of Megyn Kelly saying how she is now denouncing these transgender lies and will no longer use preferred pronouns or call a man a woman or a woman a man. Unfortunately I am not able to provide a link but it is on YouTube and easy to find. It has given me some hope and that is why I thought I would share it. I don’t know , you may have seen it already but I really recommend it to anyone who has not come across it. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 27, 2023 Mia, it’s always lovely to hear from you, and thank you very much for your comment. It is heartening to hear that Megyn Kelly is denouncing the transgender lies. Let’s hope that more in the MSM will do the same. If we all stop those lies flying by, we might have a collective chance of making a difference. Mia, the truth matters. Reply David Whippman August 27, 2023 Great stuff as ever, Susan. I especially liked “The Cutting Edge Misogynist” and “21st Century Minor.” The final couplet of the former sums up the nonsense and the hypocrisy. On this side of the pond, the madness continues unabated. An autistic girl was recently arrested for telling a policewoman that she looked “like my gran, who’s a lesbian.” Heinous crime, apparently. If that kind of thing doesn’t make you homesick, nothing will! Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant August 27, 2023 David, thank you very much – I’m glad you liked the poems… and yes, the hypocrisy is rife. I saw the video of that poor autistic girl and her desperate mother… what on earth has become of my homeland?! I believe this insanity is pervading the entire Western world and it shocks and sickens me. It also saddens me that the British bobbies are willing to go along with this draconian and inhumane protocol. I’m still hoping we’ll all come to our senses soon and stop turning a blind eye. Reply David Whippman August 28, 2023 Well, as I said when commenting on one of Brian Yapko’s poms, I find it heartening that people like J K Rowling, Ricky Gervais and the comedian Leo Kearse are sticking two fingers up at the woke mob. Gervais and Rowling are really just too securely established and wealthy to be overawed. They’re the trailblazers for all of us. Joshua C. Frank August 28, 2023 Even if the transgender insanity goes away, it will only be because the deep state will have found something better and sneakier with which to attack us, and because they’ll want to take the opportunity to make us think our actions have any effect against our culture’s decline (which I think is the entire reason the Republican Party and various conservative media outlets are allowed to exist). If they can control the narrative, they can just as easily control the counter-narrative and let us think we’ve made some gains to divert us into wasting our time where we will have no real effect. Gregory Ross August 29, 2023 Wow! Both great poems Susan! I like how one feeds into the other. The organization of the first one is perfect because it susses out exactly who the players are in these mixed up lies – and they are confusing – but your poem picks them out and labels the whole charade with rhyme and reason. Thanks for this! Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant September 10, 2023 Gregory, I’m sorry I missed this. I thoroughly appreciate your encouraging comment and I’m glad you enjoyed the poems. I often feel that poems sometimes give a greater sense of what is real than the press… but, that isn’t much of a challenge in these surreal days of madness and mayhem. Thank you very much indeed! Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Roy Eugene Peterson August 24, 2023 Sensational satire in the first three poems with the scary prognostication in the fourth. I am glad that the four-poem set was published. Your unique blend of British and American words and terms always are as fascinating as they are focused with trenchant takes. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 Roy, I simply had to write these. My Muse informs me there is plenty of beauty in universal truths… and for all those who tell my Muse there isn’t – she couldn’t give a swiving hump! Roy, thank you for your appreciative comment. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 I would like to add… my Muse is the voice of the children who are being drugged, neutered, and mutilated at an unprecedented level. I cannot and will not remain silent!
Russel Winick August 24, 2023 Nobody gets their messages across like you, Susan. When I see your posts, I stop everything to read them, usually multiple times. You never let me down. And I remember, not many years ago, reading about a school district that wanted boys who identified as girls to be allowed to use the girls’ gym locker rooms – in junior high – and girls or parents who protested would be punished. I thought to myself, “no one could be that crazy!” I’ll certainly never think that about Leftists again. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 Russel, thank you for your support. I thoroughly appreciate it. I am certain your “no one could be that crazy!” will resonate with many in a world that has gone beyond the realms of crazy and is fast sinking into depravity. I think it’s gone beyond a left/right divide and is fast veering towards the pure evil realm, where politics should be left behind and we should all (as decent human beings) stand together against experimenting on children Mengele-style, leaving them wounded mentally and physically. Every non-reversible transgender operation is experimental. Reply
Sally Cook August 24, 2023 Susan, I am in complete agreement with the tenor of your poems. So awful to be forced and tricked into such an evil lie, There is an awful certainty about them. Thank you for these. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 Dear Sally, thank you so very much for your astute comment. You’re right, there is an awful certainty about these poems. Thank you for reading them… I am hoping by not turning our backs on this “evil lie” (you are quite right), we can turn this sick situation around. There are many who have gone through these wicked procedures who are standing up right now to warn others… but it’s tough for them to get their voices heard. I appreciate your support. Reply
Leland James August 24, 2023 Daring. Love all the double meanings, traditional in such poems. Laughed out loud a couple times. Your poem brings to mind the Greek poet Sotades, famous for a risky line I won’t repeat that got him imprisoned. He escaped but was captured and shut up in a leaden chest which was thrown into the sea. I admire your courage. Hope our intrepid FBI and CIA are not reading SCP. Let them rend their clothes. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 Thank you, Leland. I’m glad you found the poems amusing. Thank you for taking the time to read and to comment. You make valid points about the artist’s voice in today’s society. What a dreadful shame that poets of an opposing viewpoint to the forced mainstream doctrine are made to cow in fear for veering from the PC message. I’m certainly not courageous… I just happen to think the future of my new granddaughter depends upon her grandmother speaking up just as my grandparents stood up for me. Reply
Norma Pain August 24, 2023 Thank you Susan for your continuing poetic crusade against all of the evil that is targeting our children and youth. These poems are amazing as usual. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 24, 2023 Norma, it’s great to hear from you and I’m thoroughly grateful for your support. Satire matters… it’s a wonderful medium for getting a grave message across and (in my opinion) has earned its place alongside pastoral pennings. Reply
Julian D. Woodruff August 24, 2023 If you want to give these ghouls a bruisin’ Sick on them raging rhyming Susan. Though we prize your uniqueness, Susan, unfortunately the perverts, their enablers, and their defenders–the enemies of kids from their birth until they reach adult hood–are many: teachers, school boards, librarians, nurses and doctors, politicians and judges. Maybe the worst of it is that many are also parents. As a result, many voices are needed to denounce them and their agenda. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 25, 2023 Julian, it’s always wonderful to have a comment from you… especially when it rhymes! Thank you! Sadly, I agree with you. Many voices are needed to denounce this sick ideology… small breakthroughs are being made… but small is not good enough. Reply
Cynthia Erlandson August 24, 2023 “Those preening chanticleers, those sparring cocks” — “trans-free porn” — So many phrases dense with important meaning and dark humor. You have a great ability to write about current political and social trends without losing any of your poetic finesse! This is truly such a crucial issue; and the consequences of the horrifying psychological, emotional, and spiritual damage done to these people will be passed down to future generatiuons. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 25, 2023 Cynthia, your comment is dear to me – thank you. I am thrilled you reveled in my love of words and literature and none of the embellishments got swallowed up in the satirical sweep. The main point you make (a point I missed when replying to Russel) is the spiritual damage inflicted upon the naive. My heart aches to think of the mental, physical, and spiritual wounds inflicted by those who care more for their bank balance than they do for the children they ruin. Reply
Joseph S. Salemi August 24, 2023 This transgender freak show is now out of control, and Susan Bryant is one of the few poets standing up to defend children against the predatory vermin who want to mutilate and brainwash them. These are four great poems, Susan. The last one (“Brink”) is now perhaps outdated, since the world seems to have gone over the brink. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 25, 2023 Joe, thank you! With a heavy heart, I have to admit that “Brink” is probably outdated. How much of this sick path do we have to be forced to tread before realizing there’s no turning back? I’m still holding on to hope… hope that many more will stand up and shout “NO!” – even if we’ve reached a point of no return, we cannot turn a blind eye to the brainwashing and mutilation of our children. Reply
Joshua C. Frank August 24, 2023 When males with painted nails Insist they’re dames, There’s Susan’s muse who flails Their baleful games! All of these are wonderful. The first one, I especially love stanza 4 and the couplet! I had to look up “goolies,” and laughed when I did. Is anyone really surprised that nothing turns off a straight man more than a “woman” who is so clearly a man? Even married couples who ignore natural sex roles engage in marital intimacy less often: https://www.livescience.com/26696-housework-makes-men-less-sexy.html The second, my favorite line is, “These ghouls grow rich when fruitful futures die,” also the refrain, “They crush the blush of innocence and cheer.” Both are true not just of transgenderism-pushers, but the entire system. Children’s classics written over a hundred years ago were saying the modern world was not suitable for children… what would the writers say of today? On second thought, I don’t have to ask; you’re saying it for them. The third one is also really good; it summarizes the modern world’s view through a child speaker: “My Mommy is the kind the world detests—/A straight, cisgender, family-focused fool.” Like the Beatles’ song “Happiness Is a Warm Gun,” it gets the message across by saying its opposite. It also reminds me of your couplet, “Alack, the women most revered/Are those who have a cock and beard,” which even your detractors remember well! The last one is very well done, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to agree with Joe Salemi: it’s outdated, because we’ve passed the brink of something scary and are sliding down into scarier and scarier things. When I went to YouTube to look at parts 2 and 3 of Andrew Brown’s latest episode, I saw that I couldn’t even open the page without seeing clickbait for some truly evil things I won’t describe here. Perhaps the reason people fear Hell less is because our world is becoming more like Hell every day. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 25, 2023 Joshua, thank you very much for your generous and informative comment, and for the opening poem. I always have huge fun with words and have never suffered for my art… until now. These poems wouldn’t have existed a few years ago, and I am saddened that my inspiration to write comes from sources that horrify me. As I’ve mentioned to Joe, “Brink” does appear outdated, and it was only written a very short time ago. That is how swiftly the grip of tyranny is squeezing the life out of every liberty we’ve enjoyed for so long. I especially like your observation: ““My Mommy is the kind the world detests—/A straight, cisgender, family-focused fool.” Like the Beatles’ song “Happiness Is a Warm Gun,” it gets the message across by saying its opposite.” That is the sheer beauty of art… it allows the poet to play with words… to shape and to color them… to sculpt them into something impacting… something unusual… something memorable. I’d like to pick up on Joe’s “Art for art’s sake” take on another post. Whatever a poet’s message, the craft he uses is the most important aspect. No poet should HAVE to explain the reason for the poem’s existence. No poet should HAVE to make apologies for the angle at which they’ve viewed society. First and foremost a poem IS Art, and its message is secondary. The craft of the piece is paramount. Artists may use their gift to get a grave message across – but that’s the artist’s business, no one else’s. As poets we have a choice on whether to engage trolls who are out to slate every piece we write. I used to. I used to do it for all the readers who didn’t know where I was coming from. I wanted to explain, defend my work, let readers know I had a heart, and my works were born of care. NO MORE! If people cannot see what is going on around them now, if readers do not understand my words… I don’t have to explain them. I’m a poet not a journalist. Josh, keep on doing what you do, and you should NEVER feel you HAVE to explain… it’s Art. As for the article on men doing the housework… I’ve found the more housework a man does, the sexier he is in my eyes! 😉 Reply
Joshua C. Frank August 26, 2023 Thank you, Susan. Just as you had to admit with a heavy heart that “Brink” is outdated after so little time, I similarly must admit that engaging trolls benefits no one. At one point, it may have helped the readers… but at this point, that’s what our poetry is for. If they won’t listen to what we’re saying in our poetry, “neither will they believe if one rise again from the dead.” I think Joe is right that we have no need to justify writing what we write. If someone can’t read a poem saying that a man is a man and a woman is a woman, or one describing the evils of contraception and abortion, without going postal, then he needs to grow up and get a life. People who need a safe space because words hurt their feelings shouldn’t be reading poetry, at least not the real stuff. It is as I said when I was new here: “Never argue with the woke; You can’t convince such stubborn folk. Perhaps we’ll better meet our goals Deciding not to feed the trolls!” I understand about finding that a poem is outdated. In my poem “Texas Pride,” I wrote, “Flags pepper every Texas scene,” but even in the year and a half I’ve been here, this has become less and less true, and it’s become noticeable since I wrote that poem back in April. As for housework… well, given that I work in statistics, I should know better than to cite an article involving a “study!” 🙂 However, I’ve found the general principle to be true—the more people fit within the sex-based roles given to them by biology and tradition, both of which are good and willed by God, the more attractive they are to the opposite sex. This article shows examples of women’s romantic lives improving when they came to understand this: https://www.kolbecenter.org/genesis-2teaching-its-truth-to-women/ That being the case, how could anyone expect straight men to be as attracted to men in dresses calling themselves “women” as to actual women?
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 28, 2023 Josh, your don’t-feed-the-trolls poetic advice speaks volumes to me at this very point in time. I have come to learn that anyone who judges the artist first and the art last has an ulterior motive that veers from the aesthetic appeal of a piece to push an agenda… and in doing so, the poem is written off simply because the content doesn’t appeal to an ideal. Josh, I love the article you’ve provided and would encourage all women to read it. The role of the wife and mother in society has been diminished and virtually erased. Women, men, and children have suffered as a result. I’ve asked Mike to hand back his duster. Thank you!
Margaret Coats August 24, 2023 Susan, what I admire in your satirical slams at type characters (and examples exist, of course) is that the poems don’t smother the light. We can see through to the truly desirable type of mother, and to the real innocence of young children. This is important when good mothers are being told to bow out, and the age of innocence in children is constantly shortened, abused, or denied. I have the happy duty of writing epithalamia for three couples–one in their twenties, one in their thirties, and one not yet out of their teens. All of them have the brave intent of forming traditional families (God willing), and they are helped when supporters depict their enemies as ugly and false. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 25, 2023 Margaret, what a beautiful comment. I never want to ‘smother the light’… I want the light between my lines to shine on the darkness and reveal its ugliness. Thank you for letting me know I’m on the right track… it means a lot! It’s wonderful to hear you have the “happy duty of writing epithalamia for three couples” – how heartening to know the family life is still sought after and lauded. I know you’ll do a glorious job. Reply
Brian A. Yapko August 25, 2023 These are four spectacular poems, Susan, which pull no punches and offer shots of truth that are unpleasant but which nonetheless must be faced – at least by responsible grown-ups who value reality over ideology. . Your “Modern Times” trio presents portraits of three people I hope I never meet. The character of the misogynist is gross, hypocritical and ubiquitous. There are some really choice lines here which I admire: “Tiresome dinosaurs born with a womb” really got me as well as “those flocks of gloating blokes in fancy frocks.” I always watch out when your internal-rhyme machine goes into overdrive because it usually bespeaks scathing sentiment and the calling out of lying hypocrites. Your “Child Catcher” (I love the reference to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) is a harsh indictment not just of the fiends but their entourage and audience of zipped lipped cowards who will not speak up. Who is worse here, the fiends or those who stay silently quiet while atrocities occur? The lawyer in me is reminded that silence implies consent. The atrocities by a minority cannot occur without the silence and inaction of the silent majority. The “21st Century Minor” is a skilled poem – it should be humorous – -phrases like “furry birthing persons” are inherently funny – but this poem actually made me ineffably sad. How much we give up as a society and as individuals because too many of us don’t have the cojones to speak out! Even something as primal and sacred as motherhood becomes corroded and degenerate. On your last poem… I unfortunately agree, Susan, with every commenter who has observed that the brink has been passed. But after the collapse occurs and the rebuilding begins, we will have on record observations of sanity and sense. That’s where your poetry comes in. It is solidly grounded in reality while at the same time being memorable and beautifully-crafted. It speaks to our times but it speaks to our grandchildren’s times as well. When they wonder “how did it ever come to this?” they’ll have poems like yours to explain our strange times. I am reminded of Yeats and his “Second Coming” with the memorable phrase “slouching toward Bethelehem.” He was a poet, not a politician. He did not prevent any of the evils of the world. And yet he gave voice to a nameless horror that had to be reckoned with. As do you. There has been a great deal of discussion on this site about what poetry should and shouldn’t do, what poets should or shouldn’t do. I have been very distracted these days and have not really had an opportunity to participate in these discussions. But now seems a good time to chime in. I have only one short credo regarding what poetry is and what it is we poets do (especially you who do it so well): through our art, we bear witness. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 26, 2023 Brian, I am most grateful to you for reading my poems closely and focusing on the ugliness of the sad society we now inhabit. I believe we may be at that point of no return (the comments here have inspired me to write a new poem with that very title) but it doesn’t mean we have to feed the big lie by going along to get along. This is the worst example we could set for our children – children whose innocence is purposefully exploited by those raking in riches; children experimented on using irreversible mind and body-altering drugs, then neutered and mutilated in experimental operations. They need us. They need us to be honest in a world full of lies – a tough call when we see the consequences of honesty in a society where speaking out against establishment ideals is labeled a “terroristic threat” by the arbiters of the “truth.” I particularly love your closing paragraph and the thought you’ve given to what poetry should and shouldn’t do. I have given this subject a great deal of thought. I could go on for paragraph after paragraph, but you say it all in your one short and enlightening credo. Sometimes, less really is more and your brief yet impacting words say it all for me: “through our art, we bear witness” is an observation that sings to my very soul. Thank you! Reply
Steve Todd August 26, 2023 Finely crafted and razor sharp as usual Susan – great work. I particularly liked the unusual point of view (ie. the narrator) of the third poem. It makes the satire sting that little bit more, to my mind. It’s painful enough to watch a world worth fighting for gleefully engaged in crowdsourcing text for the longest suicide note in history. However, it seems even more tragic to consider those born in the aftermath, the children of the crater, who at best may only be able to feel the apathy of historical distance towards the hard-fought truths that perished or – at worst – a dismissive irritation born of the same self-rightous presentism which authored their demise. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 26, 2023 Steve, thank you very much for your encouraging comment and thank you for picking up on exactly what I was trying to get across in ‘The 21st Century Minor’. I believe satire is a little like the Sci-Fi genre – beneath the surface entertainment is a huge message about society that bears listening to. Of course, poetry is art and it’s wonderful to hear that my poems have amused those reading them… but I thoroughly appreciate the readers who peer beneath the surface ripple of laughter to the depths where the monster lurks. You make some spot-on observations about those born in the aftermath of the Western world’s demise… observations that should make those who are silent vocal. Thanks again! Reply
Mia August 26, 2023 Dear Susan, every line is a gem and I can’t choose which I like best. I can’t add much to the very knowledgable comments here either, except to say thank you. Let us hope that more and more people will speak out. I saw a clip of Megyn Kelly saying how she is now denouncing these transgender lies and will no longer use preferred pronouns or call a man a woman or a woman a man. Unfortunately I am not able to provide a link but it is on YouTube and easy to find. It has given me some hope and that is why I thought I would share it. I don’t know , you may have seen it already but I really recommend it to anyone who has not come across it. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 27, 2023 Mia, it’s always lovely to hear from you, and thank you very much for your comment. It is heartening to hear that Megyn Kelly is denouncing the transgender lies. Let’s hope that more in the MSM will do the same. If we all stop those lies flying by, we might have a collective chance of making a difference. Mia, the truth matters. Reply
David Whippman August 27, 2023 Great stuff as ever, Susan. I especially liked “The Cutting Edge Misogynist” and “21st Century Minor.” The final couplet of the former sums up the nonsense and the hypocrisy. On this side of the pond, the madness continues unabated. An autistic girl was recently arrested for telling a policewoman that she looked “like my gran, who’s a lesbian.” Heinous crime, apparently. If that kind of thing doesn’t make you homesick, nothing will! Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant August 27, 2023 David, thank you very much – I’m glad you liked the poems… and yes, the hypocrisy is rife. I saw the video of that poor autistic girl and her desperate mother… what on earth has become of my homeland?! I believe this insanity is pervading the entire Western world and it shocks and sickens me. It also saddens me that the British bobbies are willing to go along with this draconian and inhumane protocol. I’m still hoping we’ll all come to our senses soon and stop turning a blind eye. Reply
David Whippman August 28, 2023 Well, as I said when commenting on one of Brian Yapko’s poms, I find it heartening that people like J K Rowling, Ricky Gervais and the comedian Leo Kearse are sticking two fingers up at the woke mob. Gervais and Rowling are really just too securely established and wealthy to be overawed. They’re the trailblazers for all of us.
Joshua C. Frank August 28, 2023 Even if the transgender insanity goes away, it will only be because the deep state will have found something better and sneakier with which to attack us, and because they’ll want to take the opportunity to make us think our actions have any effect against our culture’s decline (which I think is the entire reason the Republican Party and various conservative media outlets are allowed to exist). If they can control the narrative, they can just as easily control the counter-narrative and let us think we’ve made some gains to divert us into wasting our time where we will have no real effect.
Gregory Ross August 29, 2023 Wow! Both great poems Susan! I like how one feeds into the other. The organization of the first one is perfect because it susses out exactly who the players are in these mixed up lies – and they are confusing – but your poem picks them out and labels the whole charade with rhyme and reason. Thanks for this! Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant September 10, 2023 Gregory, I’m sorry I missed this. I thoroughly appreciate your encouraging comment and I’m glad you enjoyed the poems. I often feel that poems sometimes give a greater sense of what is real than the press… but, that isn’t much of a challenge in these surreal days of madness and mayhem. Thank you very much indeed! Reply
