I thought some of the members on the list might be interested in the following poem by my son (Samim) on the occasion of Trump's victory.

Thanks,
Jalil Safaei



ODE DE TRUMP    (By Samim Safaei)


On this soft autumn morning, we awoke to a hard truth.
Hammered into all the compassionates, progressives, and hopeful youth.
Smeared across all the facts of those fancy polls,
Punched through the filters all those sharp reporters hold,
Was the voice of the often overlooked realities; much simpler and bolder.

It stood tall, pale, and affluent, as they usually do.
It was intolerant, crass and quite hypocritical too.
In a bubble of hyper-gentri-felatio, it had blossomed an arrogance so strong.
That it enchanted the disenfranchised masses that felt they'd been so wronged.
A truly seductive force that exploited simple people's deep frustration,
Despite the irony that it itself was the source of their dissatisfaction.
It's as if he'd stole your windows, and then convinced you to pay him to end bad weather.
Or as if he'd made you buy your own cage, to protect yourself from his bad temper.
Yes, he humbled us all to what was truly powerful in America.

That as a rich white male, there is nothing you can't do.
And before you say this brash or irrelevant, I simply ask you:
If he were ethnic or female would his flaws be so tolerated?
Or if he were smaller, softer or poorer, would he be as celebrated?
The truth is he embodied an ugly stereotype, one that ugly people love.
Ugly people mass bred by a broken system that is misguided and rough,
They challenge the very principle of democracy; is this really fair enough?
The truth is the ugly are the majority, and they are recklessly protesting to those above.

To leave, manage or join list: https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=sdoh&A=1