The rat was in the White House. Vile, Diseased, Infested, Vermin. And yet for all that There was also Something exotic, Challenging every preconception, And sometimes that Provokes Inspiration, Shaking loose The doldrums, The humdrum, The routine. It was an interesting four years. And it will be For many years To come. History won’t soon Forget. Although, You know, Stranger things Have happened.
Twenty years later and this is still the only day in American history like this. (Except the burning of the White House, War of 1812, 8/24/14, a response to York.) That is what we felt in those days. In WWII this is what Europe looked like, a continent. This is what it looks like when war happens. This is what traumatized a nation. In twenty years many things have happened since. Incredibly, it took no time at all to forget how that day felt. No time at all, and there were people who argued it was staged. That’s the world we live in. No time at all and politicians started thinking, “We will lose power if this remains the narrative.” No time at all and the reality of a war became a preamble to twenty years of claiming it was America that turned aggressor. Twenty years and they still work to identify the bodies. Twenty years of victims. Twenty years, a lifetime for a new generation born after and growing up in the shadow of fallen towers. Twenty years after a morning in which I wa
Verisimilitude is incredibly rare. Verisimilitude is incredibly rare Insofar as the convictions You’re liable to find Are not reliable. I know a guy Who says his kids are geniuses Failed by the system But when confronted With a real genius Whom the system demonstrably failed He changes his tune. So that’s a little of what experiencing Public discourse Is like. But I suppose It’s rare Because it’s also Incredibly difficult To have the courage Of your convictions. So you state what you think is right And don’t care if you prove yourself wrong.
Impatience can make us all barbarians. Something to think on as this pandemic drags on...
ReplyDeleteI think it made some of us barbarians.
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