ONCE UPON A TIME: A Free Verse Poem
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Once upon a time,
when we sailed the seas,
people came to our harbor
from many countries.
France gave us a gift for all to see
proclaiming what we're free to be:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to be free"
quotes our harbor light, the Statue Of Liberty.
Now we have a brand new president
who is going to begin
by building walls around our country
so no one outside can come in.
A moat around the castle
with bars on the castle door
will protect us from the siege
created when no one comes here anymore.
A moat around the castle,
a drawbridge across the moat,
and should we protest these changes,
he'll investigate our vote.
Knights in shining armor
may march away to wars
since our balance of power
needs to be restored.
The exercise of judgement
- and this may come as a surprise -
transcends the personal
to question and criticise.
Examining ideas apart from people
is what makes us wise.
It's transcending a paradigm-in-disguise.
It's not about valuing people less or more,
we don't throw courtesy or respect out the door,
we just don't equate a person with an idea we explore.
To discover and discern
whether or not
any idea is valid,
we examine it separately, critically, and impersonally.
And this unconditional ability
to examine all ideas, no exceptions,
without interference of any kind,
is called FREEDOM,
and this process of examination is called The Search For Truth.
The pursuit of truth
leads in unexpected directions
all of which depend on asking unencumbered questions.
Criticism, challenges, unravelling loose ends,
all require upholding the right to offend.
Powerful forces are at work encouraging the perception
that our thought and speech need regulating for everyone's protection,
that people's health is harmed on the spot
by hearing and thinking things they would rather not.
You may not believe this thought,
but its' gained traction and at fine colleges, it's being taught.
Belief is not required. Anyone is problematic who
doesn't think like me and you
or deviates from their script for you.
Using vocabulary of openness and exploration,
you're trained to glorify victimization.
Demanding all individual contributions be respected,
thereby banning critical assessment,
honest dissonant opinions are forced to fade
because "Being Contrary" hurts your grade.
But self-censorship and repression never die
and History itself informs us how and why.
Whenever you're being "evaluated",
Freedom Of Speech is being traded.
Compulsory education happens outside the home.
You can't be trusted to "gain awareness" on your own.
You need "training" to be sensitive, non-biased, more aware
of unconscious forces you didn't know were there.
You can be set off by anything
when anything can set you off.
And into this contorted zoo
lands a businessman who
is not the nice guy from next door.
The system's never seen his like before.
The problems can't be solved on the level that created them,
and this guy's fully armed and ready to debate them.
His moves are offensive, to say the least.
He's not interested in keeping the peace.
As soon or before his foot's in the door,
he's re-examining core issues as never before.
Uncertainly is not a sleep-through state.
This guy keeps the world up late.
For better or worse, he takes the view
that controversy is essential to discover what to do.
Uncomfortable ideas don't offend him.
In fact, he's often the one who "sends" them.
But a President is not a King,
even living in the West Wing,
and in a world he knows is uncertain,
he's got four years to the next curtain.
What's true for his future comes from his past:
whatever's made can be unmade and may not last.
I sign these newsletters "See Into The Invisible". Thanks for reading.
Best Wishes,
Debra Spencer
