My Trump Pandemic Totem
It’s slow going
with my house on my back
like our Palomino truck camper
with the windows loosely latched
I’m headed to the beach
Not the one from my childhood
but the closest one I can find
I hear the crunch of driveway gravel
and feel the threat of oblivious drivers
who justify the means to an end
I hide my face to escape
being closely observed
and if I can’t see you
maybe you can’t see me
But I have to look
to navigate the route
and we can’t afford to lose this race
I push on in spite of
the crushed shell I see
with innards strewn
like tarot pulled and bloodied
because truth catches up
with the fast and the loose
because I am slow and steady
and there’s many of us
________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United
September 13th, 2020 12:58 am
This brings to mind the word ‘doggedness’ or the phrase ‘keep on keeping on’ – which may well result in triumph in the end.
September 13th, 2020 1:35 am
It is sad to realise how many different reactions to the Covid crisis there has been. Often governments more concerned about the economy have ignored (or cared little) their own populations in order to maintain financial stability of their country. However in Australia where each state managed the crisis and borders the main concern was to lessen the spread and number of victims. Time will heal the economy with a grateful public.
September 13th, 2020 2:57 am
How frightening to be part of a mass exodus with your house on your back, with the ‘threat of oblivious drivers’ and knowing you can’t afford to lose the race. There is so much truth in the final stanza it brought a tear to my eye. Stay safe Colleen.
September 13th, 2020 8:46 am
That thing in the White House has so much blood and misery on his hands. I pray our country comes to its senses in November, but we have a long, long way to go to heal the wounds he created.
September 13th, 2020 9:46 am
Pushing on sometimes seems like an exercise in futility. I hope that in this case it is not. May the country be exorcised of the demonic forces now holding it in captivity.
September 13th, 2020 10:30 am
What a nice escape, a dark exodus for sure with the great line “with innards strewn / like tarot pulled and bloodied”.
September 13th, 2020 11:52 am
Your words gripped me, as my daughter and her children are very near the stand by to evacuate area in Oregon. I hope your home is safe, and I pray for all those who’ve lost everything….not just their homes, but their church, schools, and entire communities.
September 13th, 2020 12:44 pm
We’ve reached the place of “I cant go on. I go on.” This poem is wonderful, and I sure do hope there are many of us – enough to turn this ship around.
September 13th, 2020 1:41 pm
Indeed, “truth catches” and spreads.
September 13th, 2020 2:26 pm
Slow and steady am I like you … we have no choice in Bend Oregon but to endure the dangerous ever present smoke that blankets us … and pray for everyone and everything in the path of these epic fires.
September 13th, 2020 4:12 pm
This is powerful from beginning to end. There are so many who are literally and figuratively carrying all they own on their backs because living where we are in this space and time has turned us into nomads chasing home.
September 14th, 2020 12:03 am
“because truth catches up
with the fast and the loose”
Indeed and well said.