Poetry by A.H. Scott, Copyright 2022
.
Just The Same?
Vote for love
Vote for hate
Vote for days past
Vote for future’s fate
Choice some may see as being the same
Yet, beyond surface of perception, you gotta’ use your brain
Not just a resident in Florida who is a white-knuckle liar
Not just a resident in Delaware who has that internal fire
Pair of political leaders in their 70’s
Yes, they are by date they were born
Not just Rep road
Not just Dem lane
But, their headspace is NOT the same
I’m going to let you in on the score
Trump is who he is
Biden is who he is
How will who these men are affect an elected term?
One relies on the Constitution as being dead words upon a scrap of paper, to be twisted, bastardized and prepped for the toilet’s flush
One sees that parchment as a document that breathes in expansion’s promise of word and action for hope
Two men, two leaders
Polar opposite is what they are
Vote like you give a fuck
Not just a perfunctory damnation of both sides of politics as being corrupt
Prez is the star on center stage
But, then again, in a book of an administration you’ve gotta’ look at each line upon the page
You know, the people he brings along to the table of ideas
Is it a nationalist’s coda?
Is it a sonnet of brotherhood?
Maybe if you’re on that side of fortune’s scale that hasn’t given a second thought about rights being granted, then just sit back and stay in your bubble of obliviousness
As for the rest of us we know the journey is not a stair-step of simplicity of just waking up in the morning and pounding our chest with an American chant of acknowledging legal protections
Just the same, are they?
Depends on who stands in the chorus behind the man in the spotlight
Can you honestly say the choice is equal between two visions with a straight face?
Especially when one has that scent upon him of Lucifer’s place
Nah, ya’ can’t shrug this choice away
So, if you don’t want to vote, just stay your ass home
But, don’t put up a false equivalency as a shiny object that roams
Choosing a candidate is only part of civic participation
Do a little research on whom and what they bring to the table
Policies matter, as well as history
Just the same, you say?
November’s coming, so your hesitation better get out of the way
Man in the spotlight is the one who leads the chorus
Chorus behind him should never be a Faustian surprise
Okay, so I’m voting and I’m excited to flex my franchise
I do it for myself, family, friends and even those I never met who have paid the price in the shadows and light
So, you may think the vote doesn’t count or matter at all
But, you can scribble a moniker of your dog, cat, or even the words ameba or zygote on your ballot if you think a reason to vote is too damned small
Yet, you should use sobriety in answering history’s call
I’m thinking it big!
I’m thinking it bold!
I’m thinking of those who were young and those who were old
These are a few threads of the quilt of America –
Emmett Till, Mose Wright, Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Medgar Evers, John Lewis, C.T. Vivian, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Alice Paul, Sarah Weddington, Harvey Milk, Larry Kramer, Bayard Rustin, Walter Reuther, Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, Fred Korematsu, Russell Means, James T. Byrd, Matthew Shepard, Heather Heyer
And, if you can’t think of anyone or cause worthy of the reason for you to vote
Then sit your ass home, don’t bitch and don’t moan
Just remember that your choice to vote is always bigger than just about you
History didn’t begin the second a doctor spanked your newborn ass and you let out a wail
Since the moment of beginning, right now and onto future’s hence
Freedom is more than a bumper sticker of red, white, and blue
No time for false patriotism’s cue
Democracy needs to be held up and respected true
Roe’s gone and Brown can be gone, too
On the ballot are deniers of election, acting like their conspiratorial vision is the only selection
Infected by the dark tide of damning what they see as the other
Some are not seen as equal in the family of humanity
Identity bashed beneath waves of an ideological haze
Banning books and thoughts of progress is the conservative’s latest phase
Odd is it that they want to control what can be read
While those who are adults among them are mathematically inept
Not even knowing how many baby mamas you’ve screwed and left
Over and over the playbook is the same
Snarky they are, as their malarkey has taken them far
You call anyone not to the right of you a commie and lib
But, damn, don’t worry about what I am, cuz’ I can whip a few cold remarks ever so glib
No party holds the key to what loving this country is meant to be
Voting is cornerstone of this republic in which we live
Nobody can easily think democracy can be ripped away
Thus, we better vote like it might be our last
Fascistic winds across the land have not yet passed
Hucksters, opportunists and true believers are on the ballot this year
That which they have planned for America will be something many of us cannot bear
Yet, some say both sides are the same
Well, I know one thing to be beyond a transparent claim
If these ultra-maga conservatives win, our freedoms will go quickly down the drain
The move towards progress has never been easy
Nothing was given to any of us who have fought for it
What will you do?
Sit back on your crack with an apathetic smirk?
Or, send in your ballot or walk to the place of your poll with a focused goal?
November 8th is the date
Only if you vote, this land of America as we know it will remain great
Vote!!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A.H. Scott is a poet and essayist based in New York City. Miss Scott is a veteran contributor to this blog. To access additional articles by A.H. Scott, click here: https://tonyward.com/a-h-scott-tick-tock-knockin-on-reckons-door-first-knock/