.

It’s All for Show

The Big Guy’s going to build a wall.
He’s going to build it strong and tall
“Because,” he says, “we cannot leave
Our border leaking like a sieve.”

He used to say, “It isn’t sound,
They’ll climb it or they’ll go around.
Besides, it’s racist to suggest
A cartel thug might be a pest.”

The unbuilt wall, proposed by Trump;
Just weeks ago, went to the dump.
But now, it seems, it’s a good thing.
When Biden builds it, angels sing!

Environmental laws be damned!
They’ll call it “Green”, and claim the land—
The sagebrush, desert sand and all—
Will be protected by the wall.

No doubt it’s in reaction to
What sanctuary cities do
When immigrants knock on their door
In ways they’ve never done before.

New York, Chicago, and LA
Want all those folks to go away.
Self-righteously they talk the talk,
But scream when forced to walk the walk.

If possible, as “means to end,”
They’d quickly round them up and send
Them back to Texas on a bus,
Without a fare-thee-well or fuss.

It’s what all politicians do;
A cynic’s ploy by You-Know-Who
To win the vote in ’24.
It’s politics and nothing more.

.

.

James A. Tweedie is a retired pastor living in Long Beach, Washington. He has written and published six novels, one collection of short stories, and three collections of poetry including Mostly Sonnets, all with Dunecrest Press. His poems have been published nationally and internationally in The Lyric, Poetry Salzburg (Austria) Review, California Quarterly, Asses of Parnassus, Lighten Up Online, Better than Starbucks, Dwell Time, Light, Deronda Review, The Road Not Taken, Fevers of the Mind, Sparks of Calliope, Dancing Poetry, WestWard Quarterly, Society of Classical Poets, and The Chained Muse. He was honored with being chosen as the winner of the 2021 SCP International Poetry Competition.

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15 Responses

  1. Phil L. Flott

    Indeed, it is all for show, or so it seems most of the time. Thanks for articulating what we all feel about the Wall.

    Reply
  2. Paul A. Freeman

    In these Orwellian times, a wall can be a dangerous proposition!

    Is building a wall such a sin,
    to bar folk not thought of as kin?
    Yet time’s they are strange,
    and its purpose could change
    to keeping Americans in.

    You’ve laid out the situation and the arguments well, James, though I find the most heart-wrenching aspect of the crisis is the human suffering of those people trapped in failed and failing states who see no future for themselves and their loved ones unless they can migrate to greener pastures.

    Thanks for the read.

    Reply
    • Mia

      Perhaps we should leave our doors unlocked
      After all in an emergency we may be blocked
      And even though others may look very strange
      I am sure they would respect our space.

      Although in my case an army took my home by force
      They came and killed to get their feet through open doors
      But still I should trust that the greener pastures they desire
      Will not once again mean that we must be expelled or expire?

      Reply
  3. Cynthia Erlandson

    Well said, James. What did the self-righteous think was going to happen when they declared “sanctuary cities“?

    Reply
  4. Roy Eugene Peterson

    And it is only 17 miles he is going to build. No wonder they can go around it.

    Reply
  5. Joseph S. Salemi

    It’s nothing but a political gesture, designed to convince stupid Americans that the White House Resident is “doing something.”

    For this reason it’s very similar to Biden’s protestation of “support” for Israel during the current terrorist attack. A totally meaningless protestation, considering that the attack was financed by the six billion dollars that Biden’s administration cravenly surrendered to Iran, the chief backer of Hamas.

    Reply
  6. Mike Bryant

    I have seen refugees many times in newsreels. They are families… the old, the young, the babes in arms, the couples… they are leaving impossible situations. This current crop of “refugees” are all military age men. We are not stupid.
    James, you’ve got Biden and company sussed out.

    Reply
  7. Phil S. Rogers

    One thousand percent on target, a political move by those who tell the veggie what to do and say. They realize it means nothing, but it makes great headlines in the corrupt media.

    Reply
  9. Cheryl Corey

    Excellent. The regime only plans to build a token section of wall, and it won’t even be in the most affected areas.

    Reply
  10. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    I’m sick to the back teeth of wall talk… it’s too late! The global government has already accomplished exactly what it set out to do and we all know what it is. The illegal passage into the USA isn’t for the likes of white women from the UK who have no intention of leeching off the welfare system… it’s for soldiers who are paid to kill the American dream, sex traffickers, and drug pushers. The sad thing is all the gullible families from war torn distant shores believing the words of the regime promising utopia for those who travel here under false pretense. Our current government is filled with money-grubbing, sex-crazed, drug-pushing liars. James, your words serve as a grave poetic warning. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Joshua C. Frank

      This is pretty much what I was going to say on the poem… also, lines 11-12 really say it all: “But now, it seems, it’s a good thing./When Biden builds it, angels sing!”

      Reply
  11. James A. Tweedie

    Please note that I am neither for nor against the wall. President Trump managed to reduce the cross-border flow of undocumented immigrants to a manageable number without the wall by simply enforcing the existing law along with aggressive deportation. I am very pro-immigration but also strongly supportive of effective/efficient processing/screening of those seeking asylum or documentation. The complete abandonment of immigration law by both parties without having the integrity to replace those laws with whatever laws would represent their vision for our nations’s future and be honest about it disturbs me greatly. Laws are useless if they are not enforced and society suffers as a result.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      James, I agree with you wholeheartedly. When I mentioned the word “wall” in my comment, perhaps I should have said “border”… whether there’s a physical wall or not, we need border control to do their job and in doing so they will be protecting the American citizens and all those paid and/or exploited by the government as well as sex and drug traffickers. It’s the same all over the Western world… Europe and the UK are dying under the weight of lawless borders.

      Reply
  12. Patricia Allred

    James! A well- crafted poem! Listening to madmen, drives me bonkers. So, since he has zero idea, what he means, might as well visit an Alzheimer’s unit.
    The man is not on the planet….at all!
    He screams, falls and walks into walls as the world is headed for WW 3.. thank you.

    Reply

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