This could go south (as in Dixie) very fast
knowing as I do he watches the American News Agency Tass
a.k.a. Putin’s Propaganda Arm in the Formerly United States
a.k.a. Fox Air Quotes News
but really I want to try
to change my ways, to not refer to rich rightwing Rupert’s Fox as
Bug Juice Mixer for the Kool-Aid Krowd
and not wonder why it’s always “Don’t Tread on Me, I’ll Tread on You”
(personal freedoms being “Me,” community concerns being “You”)
with those snaky yellow flags.
I really don’t want to have to stand between my beautiful blue line flag
and my beautiful Black Lives Matter flag
to make the obvious point: “I support good cops everywhere and the safe neighborhoods
they help create and enforce, and it certainly goes without saying
(but I’m going to say it, anyway) — that Black Lives Matter As Much As Others, not More Than Others!”
No, I don’t say any of these things. Not today.
Instead I tiptoe around the trigger topics we know so well.
I play it safe and say it’s a beautiful day and, score! We’re in agreement
that the sun is still in the sky and still shines warmth on the lot of us
because no conspiracy theory or rogue letter from the alphabet
has said otherwise and it’s a start, I’ll tell you, meaning
I am on a roll like ham and cheese,
so I take a slight chance and go there (I know, I know — there are so many “there’s”)
into 2nd Amendment land which was seized from the poor minutemen and other state militias
somewhere along the line, but hear me out, I say any day people can go
to the movies Friday, the grocery store Saturday, and church Sunday
without hearing the sound of rapid gunfire is a good one because,
damn it, bullets kill red as well as blue, young as well as old, citizen as well as militia,
my loved ones as well as yours
and the Trumped One is nodding, yes, in agreement, and we’re two for two
so I say what the hell, go for baroque, and mention
I want a better America for my children,
want them financially secure with more affordable
roofs over their heads and food in their stomachs,
want them healthy and to be able to afford both medical visits and prescriptions.
And while I’m wanting stuff, I want them safer than we are,
want them to be able to breath cleaner air and drink cleaner water than we have
because that’s what people should be blessed with in God’s World (conveniently
leaving out partisan gods assigned to a country),
and he’s liking the big-time credit (world class) I gave God there
and he has kids, too,
and they’re polite kids like mine
and they know right from wrong like mine
and we don’t like it when they lie to us so we know what the hell truth is
deep down, no games, because it’s personal in that case, see,
and when it’s personal we see quite clearly and we don’t truck in these reindeer games
(Fox and Friends again)
and we’re in agreement, red nod and blue nod
merging to purple nods with the sun setting behind purple mountains majesty
and the wind blowing fresh, pine-scented air
and me wishing him goodbye and talk again real soon because, you know what,
there’s even more common ground
to be traversed — much, much more — and when you talk about
personal things on a common sense level, seeing eye to eye
feels pretty good for once and yes, there’s always this —
it’s nice, damn nice, to talk outside an echo chamber
because I’ve been inside this media bunker too long
and am beginning to tire of this pandemic
of hatred led by partisan politicians of division
who care more about power (theirs) than country (ours),
so who can blame a guy, right?
Or left.