Monday, January 25, 2021

Respect the Word

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GLOBAL DEMOCRACY


Respect the Word

 

Orwell served warning

Words and language matter

Use your words wisely

In contrast to the Mad Hatters

 

Freedom is not oppression

Love is not hate

Poverty is not a blessing

Tyranny is not fate

 

Patriotism does not belong to party

Free people do not obey

News is not fake

No matter what the man might say

 

There is only one real truth

There are no alternative facts

Combine your heart with your head

And on that basis react

 

When others spread falsehoods

With your silence you appease

When good words serve bad causes

They become a malignant disease

 

Every authoritarian movement

Begins with a false word

A catchy slogan or phrase

That appeals to the herd

 

Remember the Reign of Terror

Recall the Third Reich

They claimed a righteous cause

For which the people could fight

 

Every dictator in history

From Pol Pot to Chairman Mao

Relied on abuse of language

Machiavelli showed them how

 

Call it out

Loud and bold

Strip it bare

Stop it cold 


[Note:  This is one in a series of poems inspired by Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny.]

 

No comments:

Post a Comment