POEM: AS THE GAP GROWS WIDER

Donald v Bernie

By Phillip Baram 1/20/2020

1. I think come November 2020

it’s going to be

a shouting match

no, a bloody duel

between Trump and Sanders

The Donald versus uncle Bernie

Queens versus Brooklyn

show-off goy versus big-mouth jew

big alpha male capitalist

versus little rumpled socialist

real estate mogul versus

preachy commie symp

make America great again

versus turn it upside down

keep it white and Christian

versus make it brown and diverse

land of founding fathers, flags, tradition

versus land of millennials, internet, selfies

pledge of allegiance

versus taking a knee

America began bright

and white in 1776

versus no, it began dark

and black in 1619

Martin Luther King Jr. old icon

versus new icons

Malcolm X and Farrakhan

old white men going to daily work

versus gays and feminists

going to a demo for impeachment,

abortion or (the latest fad) a

transgender library reading for kids.

2. Great ally of Israel

versus sniping critic of Israel

Gentile, and true friend of Jews

versus Jew, and false friend of Jews

reincarnation of King Cyrus of old

versus reincarnation of Leon Trotsky

little government Republicans

versus big government Democrats
oil and coal versus wind and sun

climate change’s exaggerated

versus no, it’s here and now!

freedom to rise to the top

versus let’s bring the super-rich down!

the push for Liberty

versus the push for Equality

(as for Fraternity, fahgettaboutit)

white lives, indeed all lives, matter

versus no, only black lives matter,

and so on and so forth…

There’s no overlap

the gap in values is growing

yes, Virginia, there IS

a Civil War in the USA today

here are more contrasts:

flyover Middle America

versus the East and West Coast

FoxNews versus CNN

enough of p.c. woke thinking

versus no, we need more!

secure the borders!

versus no, open them up!

be careful about Moslem immigrants!

versus no that’s islamophobic!

Trump’s right, stop crazy Iran now!

versus Obama was right,

appease innocent Iran now!

and so on and so forth…

3. Two questions: tomorrow

or next week or month or year

will the ever boiling far left

try to assassinate Trump

will the ever ice cold far right

try to assassinate Sanders

and I don’t mean verbally

I mean physically

like shooting or stabbing to death?

God forbid, God forbid

but my answer –as of this moment

writing in a trance-like psychic state

at 2 a.m., January 20, 2020–

is probably yes

to both questions
and at that point

at that deadly bloody point

again yes,

there’ll be no more constraints

“the Center will not hold”

the dam

will break

all hell

will break

loose in the US of A.

for how long, who knows

but it’s not going to be pretty.

4. But let’s pause right here–

isn’t all this just a bad dream?

aren’t I too much the

fatalistic Cassandra?

what happened to my

think-positive nature

my American optimism?

why do I only see

This side versus That side

the Gap widening?

well, that’s what I see

and not only the gap but

the Abyss below the gap–

bloody death, major riots

the hole in the sugary donut

of American culture today

the big black hole

in American politics today

sucking everything

into its maw, its vortex

no, it’s not a dream

or even a nightmare

it really feels more

like Biblical prophecy.

Like it or not–

here comes

Disaster! 

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