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It Won’t Happen Here

There were anti-Semites in our Congress,
And still they said:  “It will not happen here.”

Anti-Jewish protests broke out often,
And still they said:  “It will not happen here.”

U.S. campuses bred anti-Semites,
And still they said:  “It will not happen here.”

Synagogues were vandalized all over,
And still they said:  “It will not happen here.”

Anti-Semites spread Jew hate on talk shows,
And still they said:  “It will not happen here.”

Jews in public and at home were hassled,
And still they said:  “It will not happen here.”

Then it kept happening, and they were shocked:
“How could we know that it would happen here?”

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Maxim No. 1

The challenge I must master to the letter,
Is that sometimes the less I say, the better.

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Unanswered Questions

He’s seen the benefits of being calm.
Tranquility is life’s transcendent balm.
So why does he get easily annoyed,
The peace thus momentarily destroyed?
How can he banish this existence bane,
That far too often supersedes his brain?

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The Secret Service Letting Trump Get Shot

The Secret Service leader said that he
For failures “took responsibility.”
And “we’ll do better next time,” he then said,
But there’s no “next time” for the man that’s dead.

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Russel Winick recently started writing poetry after ending a long legal career. He resides in Naperville, Illinois.

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15 Responses

  1. Roy E. Peterson

    These are succinct somber poems each with a great message and well-chosen rhyme. I always get so much out of your short, directly on point poetry!
    1. “It Won’t Happen Here” perfectly assesses the frightening situation perpetrated by some students, some faculty, and some political leaders. Harris is among them though being a leader is far beyond her capabilities.
    2. You are the apotheosis of “the less I say, the better.” But you do have so much wisdom to share.
    3. The third poem is a great take on doing one’s best to remain calm.
    4. I still find it difficult to believe there may not have been a conspiracy in the attempted shooting of Trump. How else could they appear so incompetent!

    Reply
    • Russel Winick

      Thank you Roy, for your extraordinary comments. I agree that very few facts are known about the assassination attempt so long afterwards, and the steady coverups naturally increase the suspicion.

      Reply
  2. Daniel Kemper

    “It Won’t Happen Here,” has a distinct echo of Martin Niemöller’s “First They Came…” Nicely executed, nicely positioned.

    On the Trump assassination: It Bad Guys 101. You never do the deed yourself. You stir the enemies of your enemy into a frenzy. You degrade the quality of people protecting your enemy. You reduce the number. (Or strip it outright via act of Congress in tandem with kangaroo courts.) You leave occasional holes in protection with plausible deniability. Keep stirring the frenzy. Let nature take its course. No trail will lead back to you. Horrific. Talk about, “It Won’t Happen Here.”

    The poem about calmness is an excellent, and excellently timed, corrective for me.

    Reply
    • Russel Winick

      Thank you Daniel, for the interesting feedback. I’m glad the poem about calmness was helpful. I need to live up to it as well.

      Reply
  3. Brian A. Yapko

    Timely and skilled poems, Russel — especially the two news-related ones. You do not hold back in your judgments regarding the issues of the day but what is impressive is how you express important criticism in so few words. “The Secret Service” presents not only the abject failure of those protecting DJT but exposes the feebleness of their DEI-Everybody Gets a Trophy reasoning. “Sure. You’ll do better next time. Have a cookie.”

    “It Won’t Happen Here” gives me chills because you nail the problem of antisemitism here in the U.S. (much of the West, in fact.) Antisemitism now seems to be cool and permissible when any other type of hatred will get a person imprisoned. Let’s see if anyone goes to jail in the UK for hate-speech against Jews. Hating Jews goes way back but I’ve never seen — or expected to see — anything like the horror show that now has taken over the U.S.

    And God help both Israel and the Jewish people if Kamala is elected. She is as antisemitic as Obama and has far more freedom in expressing it because the Democrat mask is off. I recently received an email in which she was referred to as “Kamalek.” I think that’s about right.

    Reply
    • Lannie David Brockstein

      To expand upon that hilariously sad but true moniker, her name might as well be Kamalek Hamas.

      Reply
  4. Russel Winick

    Thanks Brian, for your gracious comments and interesting elaboration.

    Reply
  5. Margaret Coats

    Russel, this time I must focus on “The Secret Service.” You have made the most telling point about the faraway official “taking responsibility.” He takes responsibility for the killing of Corey Comperatore, whose name and tragedy are central to this failure of responsibility. If it were not for Comperatore, who protected his wife and daughter, there could have been more deaths and injuries in this news story.
    There is only one person involved who takes that seriously, namely, Donald Trump, who plans to return to Butler, Pennsylvania, to pay tribute to Comperatore.

    The official in Washington also “takes responsibility” for his agents in the field who failed in their duty. He covers up for their failures. We hear nothing from them, any more than from the victim Comperatore or the murderer Crooks. This “taking of responsibility” as a cold fact shifts responsibility off location and far away from the several persons actually responsible.. Your epigram is as good a look at the situation.as we’re likely to get.

    Reply
    • Russel Winick

      Margaret – Thank you for again giving me a prime seat in your classroom, where education is always furthered. Much appreciated.

      Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      The words “taking responsibility” are just a bureaucratic way of saying “My bad.” When you say it, all you are doing is registering a ritual utterance, the real purpose of which is to say “The story is now over, and there will be no further consequences for anyone involved.”

      When the title character of Conrad’s “Lord Jim” took responsibility for his actions and decisions, he voluntarily went to the aggrieved party, and allowed himself to be shot dead.

      Reply
      • Russel Winick

        Agreed. It’s Democratish for “nothing more to see here.”

  6. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Your wise, poetic words are on steroids in this powerful collection, Russel, and all would benefit from reading them. “It Won’t Happen Here” says it all for me. The Western world in its entirety is in trouble. Russel, thank you for saying it as it is in poetry that packs a punch.

    Reply
  7. David Whippman

    Russel, as a Jewish person I thank you for “It Won’t Happen Here”. All too clearly, it can if we drop our guard.

    Reply

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