So That's Life?

I’ve posted these previously but thought they were especially relevant today.

#1

What’s left when rage has all but consumed you?
A tempest swathed in paper-thin shell
With a hoarse voice and lips cracked from grimace
A tattered soul fighting against the swell

For all our tomorrows that will not stay
Forcing itself through the door-frame crack
Against all fears, fierce winds blow as
We scramble for signs to put us on track

With gloom on the horizon and light drawing thin
We resist the quick and easy solution
Dangling, so tempting, right before our face
And knowing it’s only an illusion

We look past the sad and constant refrain
Where all sins are washed away with the rain

#2

I’ve had the same dream six nights in a row
Where thoughts spill out in a digital river
Across the pages of polished back-lit glass
That runs deeper hues as they quickly deliver

To the blind who choose to close their eyes
And hide in the shadows of our ancient towers
That were felled by the disease of neglect
Caused by acquiescence to frightful powers

Still my vision grows dimmer through time
While violent storms gather to enthrall
To shake our lives down to the foundations
Challenging society to stand tall

And yet the pillars weaken every day
Built on people not ready to repay

#3

Air whispers, like night breezing through the trees
Winding between the blue glow in homes
Catching a glimpse, just a flash that leads on
To the desolate gray where it roams

Crouching and lurking in shadows and nooks
Or brazenly flaunting a tightening grip
On the everyday, mundane, and vacant
Reminding victims with the crack of a whip

There’s so much turmoil and doubt hidden by
A veneer of utter tranquility
Can’t ever believe the protestations
Cloaked in absent deniability

Blind to your daily intention toward races
It’s all just talk, you’d never trade places

#4

The din and furor rise unabated
And the call for reason falls by the way
As willful ignorance becomes the norm
Pushing more innocents into the fray

When violence erupts from this mixture
Escalating passions are the excuse
But who are the victims in this sad play?
Caught in the crossfire that rantings produce

Insult piled on as holy pretenders
Righteous in their choruses of “amen”
Claiming moral superiority
As they disregard the wisdom of men

Each day that passes, the pitch grows higher
How soon before our dim hopes expire?

As the pandemic of 2020 has set upon us, I’ve had a lot of time to ponder the situation and reevaluate my stance on the current state of affairs. As the country is being financially ruined and my retirement savings are being eroded, I realize now that things are not what I thought. That for all of my pontificating and the ridicule I heaped on Trump supporters, they were more right than I thought. And now, in the middle of this horrible mess, we need to support the man who is going to deliver on his promise to make this country great again!

When I think about it, why wouldn’t I support a man who encourages people to say what they think? I do that all the time and you know what? That makes me happy. He thinks that tact and PC talk is just for the weak liberals who don’t want to view reality in the hard light of day. I want that view and I want everyone to see that I can be that strong too.

I also respect his idea that we don’t need to read nearly as much as we’re being told we should. There are too many conflicting views out there and I can’t be expected to read everything. Honestly, I hated reading when I was in school so why should I pretend that I like it now? Besides, so much of what I was looking at was written by these snobs from schools that would never have let me in. Why should I listen to these elites who only speculate without having done a real job in the world? Trump is rich and he got there by taking his dad’s money and growing it through many businesses over the last four decades. Sure, he’s had a few setbacks but he keeps getting back on the horse and look where he is now.

With the revelations that China (where the virus started) hid information from us about how deadly this thing is, I don’t think he’s done anything wrong. How could he have known that this thing would turn out o be so deadly? I mean, come on, scientists were giving him all kinds of conflicting models about what they thought was going to happen. If it hadn’t been for the communist leaders of China withholding information, he would have acted much sooner. Besides, he locked down the country as soon as he saw that there were cases in the U.S. and quickly put together a team to tackle the problem.

Speaking of China, he’s been so good in his dealings with them. It’s like the Godfather where he brought Xi in close so he could punish them with tariffs. Those tariffs have generated millions of dollars that show the Chinese and any other competing country that we mean business. That we have a strong leader who will use the leverage he has to resolve issues in the international arena. Most importantly, teach them to respect us.

Respect. That’s what we’re missing in this country. Respect for hard work and the people who perform it like farmers, automakers, and the many factories across the nation. These are the people who made this country and we have got to respect them by making sure they have jobs. When this whole pandemic thing is done, the money he is directing to farmers and big factory owners will guarantee that these backbones of America will get the jobs that are rightfully theirs. Jobs that were taken away by those immigrants who are willing to work to take money under the table so they can afford to take jobs from real people who need them.

I used to think immigrants needed protection and respect for the tasks they perform in our country. They are human beings after all but where did all this pain and misery come from? I’ve done nothing to bring this virus to our shores, but someone had to. I don’t even want to walk through Chinatown anymore because who knows where one of those vendors came from? It’s not the ones who have been here a long time that I’m worried about. It’s the ones who got in just before the travel ban and now, because of Democratic generosity, these same people are filing for unemployment. They’re filling and clogging up the system so people who have been working a lot longer than them can’t even get into the system.

Finally, after seeing the disastrous response by the governors to resolve this problem that is happening in their very own states, I can see why President Trump is exacerbated at how badly these career politicians do their jobs. He tells them they’re doing a great job and then they turn around and ask for federal assistance. He tells them he will make the hard decisions and they balk and say he’s overreaching. The fact that these are governors from both parties who he has to deal with just shows me how much he understands valuing opinions from both sides of the issue.

There are so many other instances where I was completely wrong about the man that I could go on forever. I just hope that as with all things on the Internet, you give this the attention it deserves and support my position as you always do with comments of support.