Elizabeth Wilkerson wrote the book, Caste
Of all of the volumes I’ve read in the past
This one tops the list in importance, I feel
I learned many things unaware they were real
The author, a black, taught how caste permeates
Our essence of being, our innermost state
It thrives on adversity upper o’er lower
No matter achievements, we’re better than they are
The book windows slavery, for four hundred years
Inhuman brutalities, lives lived in fear
Though Lincoln had freed them; our costliest war,
The South re-enslaved them, worse off than before
Where lynching a nigger was great entertainment
Large crowds would all gather to watch his denouement
And lynch-picture postcards were made there and then
And sold to the crowd to recall what they’d seen
The book compares caste systems, Indian with ours
And Arians o’er Jews as the Nazis gained power
They have much in common, one must feel superior
Above those less human, innately inferior
Perhaps the most relevant to the now, here
Is caste’s role in politics throughout the years
Republican whites know that they’re upper caste
All others beneath them with blacks being last
But in twenty-forty-two whites then will be
In the minority; that’s bad, you see!
Must outlaw abortions; make black births decrease
And limit their access to vote as they please
White caste’s been in power for nearly four centuries
Keeping that power trumps even democracy
Attitudes held by most right-wing Republicans
Fraudulence claimed, never ceding elections
Wilkerson’s book is like one in a million
Her writing, her insights are not short of brilliant
I thank her sincerely for all she has done
Revealing caste’s shadows within everyone
2/23/2023
Month: February 2023
A Bone To Pick
A bone to pick I have with commentators
Those talking heads who give their views on news
The label they confer on proclaimed haters
On haters of all democrats and RINOs too
Conservatives, they’re labeled, way far right
So tell me, what’s conservative in what they preach?
They want to strip away all women’s rights
Remove entitlements; it’s what they seek
It used to be Conservatives conserved
Where recent history served as precedent
The way things are, they wanted to preserve
Today Conservatives appear hell bent
On just conserving power for themselves
Ignore the law; Ignore the Constitution
Toward people problems, put them on the shelf
Toward Democrats, revenge and retribution
So commentators, please stop labeling
These radicals as though respectable
Conservatives. It’s them enabling –
Continuing to act in ways despicable.
2/10/2023
State of the Union
Joe Biden said our Union’s strong
His speech as powerful as long
Describing his accomplishments
Unique o’er prior presidents
In atmospheres political
Where jointness was inimical
Great bills he passed bipartisan
Politically an artisan
It’s clear the country’s better off
A President who plays no golf
Nor lies, nor wallows in corruption
He runs a government that functions
So why are Biden’s ratings low?
The populous cares not to know
They. mostly get their news from Fox
Or have their head stuck in a box
I hope the populous tuned in
And learned the shape the country’s in
Is better than before by far
Because of Biden, here we are
2/7/2023