Turning A Corner

By: Victoria G. Smith

 

Let’s lick our lips and kiss each other’s wounds;
let’s not speak of fear or transgression,
but scent of orange blossoms in the spring.
I want to push the hyacinths to break the ice;
I want to smell the roses sleeping in the bud.

This winter has gone on too long—it’s tearing
the skin of my longing apart. What’s left is
form of being—slave to the past, jester of hope.
I am not this being. I am not the sum of my parts.

I want to hear the music of children playing
in the streets, but the fat, juicy notes of their
laughter were swallowed by crows preying
from wires burning with groans of dragons
and dungeons in little Pandora’s boxes.

My mouth is a cocoon of winged words that can’t fly,
stitched shut by silken threads of political correctness.
Are we to be tied down by fear of offending
or bound by common passion, righteous anger?

Look: The wolves have gone wild with the hunt!
There lies the scattered carcass of a nation.
But America is not the sum of its parts!

Call forth the spirit of those turning in their graves,
the souls of those to whom we owe tomorrow.
To the first, say: Remind us of our beginnings.
To the second: Show us a corner on which
to turn, together.

Poet’s Notes: By the time this article is published, Americans would have elected their new president, but the aftershocks of the current election cycle will be felt long after the elections are over. I wrote above poem during the 2008 presidential contest between then Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It was a sharp rivalry, but neither that campaign nor anything in all other previous presidential campaigns could have prepared us for the acrimony and deliberate resort to shameless falsehoods that can be witnessed in the current competition between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. This is partly due to the unprecedented type of virulence of their respective passionate supporters, particularly on the part of Trump supporters. This is not a simple matter of ideological differences—it evinces the extent to which a large segment of Trump followers are willing to do to force their agenda. Their acts of violence against Trump protesters during their rallies, their threats of staging a “revolution” from which a possible civil war may arise in case their candidate does not win, fueled by their candidate’s absolutely unsubstantiated and, therefore, irresponsible allegations of a rigged election and his bold and brash statements of intent to reject a result in which he is deemed the loser definitely promise continued vitriolic conflict after the elections, as it all undermines the very foundations of American democracy.

My poem above expressed concern about the unintended consequences of extreme political correctness that restricted freedom of speech. One can say that one of those extreme consequences is the other extreme—manifested by the current unfettered mordancy of Trump supporters who appear to have completely abandoned political correctness altogether, and along with it, basic civility, decency, respect for human rights, and adherence to logical and truthful premise that underlie the principle. One might also say that the current socio-political milieu is merely in self-correction and balancing mode. But I doubt this is all there is to this.

No matter how many times it’s been said before, it can’t be overstated this election is truly the fight for the soul of this nation. It also seems to be symptomatic a larger struggle for humanity everywhere else in the world, as though a signaling a turning point in the evolution of humankind itself. It could go one way or the other, determining accordingly, the very survival or demise of none other than our own species and planet. This, to me, proves once again how short human memory is, how impervious to lessons of history it is. I’ve said it before and I say it again—echoing the philosopher George Santayana in his work, Life of Reason: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Deceptive fascist-like thinking and sen-extreme and irrational suspicion and scapegoating of minorities, immigrants, refugees, and anyone perceived to be an outsider have never before influenced our global socio-political dynamics since Nazi Germany.

It’s time to wake up, unite, and join in the fight against this monstrous Hydra that has begun to rear its many ugly heads again. Let’s turn the corner together in this critical turning point in human history. (All rights reserved. Copyright © 2016 by Victoria G. Smith. For updates on her author events & publications, go to VictoriaGSmith.com. “Like” her on Facebook at Author Victoria G. Smith. “Follow” her on Twitter @AuthorVGSmith)