Saturday, October 23, 2021

When Democracy Dies

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

When Democracy Dies

 

When democracy dies

We begin a slow descent into anarchy

We yield control of all institutions

From civil society to law enforcement

We yield the streets to gangland dominance

And compel our children to choose

Behold Nicaragua Columbia Haiti Mexico

Witness Russia Georgia Ukraine

Beware Hungary Greece Brazil Spain

You cannot play with fire

Without getting burned

You cannot entice autocracy

Without lessons to be learned

 

Democracy does not die in a single blow

Democracy dies steady and slow

From a thousand cuts over time

Placing government in a tangled bind

A perpetual failure to compromise

An absence of the reasonable and wise

A betrayal of corporate corruption

A long slow burn to a final eruption

A deliberate attack on the vote

A dozen leaks sink the boat

 

Take a good look around you

The betrayers slowly surround you

To deliver yet another blow

And watch the doubters grow

 

Democracy is at the stake

Fight back before it is too late

 


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