‘Reichstag Moment Burning’ A Poem About the Current Political Climate
The country is on fire,
Civil war is being stoked.
Oops, it was actually one of their faction,
Of course, they were just kidding – it was all just a joke.
…
Fingers pointed everywhere but the Right direction,
They were ready to slaughter us in the street.
They used this moment to justify their actions,
They’ll do anything to win – including lie, kill, and cheat.
…
From virtual torches and pitchforks and loaded guns,
To having sudden self-righteous grace, praying for his soul.
The truth hardly mattered as only optics are important,
Sowing discord and stripping rights were always the goal.
…
They went from gleefully declaring war on their neighbors,
Before they even had any leads.
They accused their perceived enemies without a second thought,
And blamed them for their own team’s deeds.
…
In the fire of their hate, their Reichstag moment burns,
Its easy cooptability, a seductive opportunity sown.
They flung themselves at it like flies to honey,
Salivating at the death of one of their own.
…
And in the stickiness of their own sweet deceptions,
They trap themselves in the duplicity of their posturing.
But setting us all on fire will burn them too,
Their wanton destruction will yield no prospering.
…
So we can either let them bring us all to extinction,
Or we can reject their mediocre cruelty.
And in the ashes of their empire, we’ll build the world anew,
Living a life of compassion and solidarity.
(A word about the poem will continue after the ad)
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A Note About the Poem ‘Reichstag Moment Burning’
So much happened in the aftermath of right-wing podcast Charlie Kirk’s death, I feel like years have passed.
In the days after, conservatives were ready to start a civil war; people made videos saying they were coming to hunt us in the streets; that this was their Reichstag Fire moment. They blamed everyone on the left, and blamed trans folk and the rest of the LGBTQ+ community. They targeted Black people and sent threats to HBCUs. Men were found lynched in Mississippi in the days that followed. (RIP Trey Reed and Cory Zukatis). They were calling for blood. They were calling for the arrest of anyone in opposition. People were put on lists and lost their jobs for not mourning a man who spouted violent, hateful rhetoric.
Then the shooter was found, and he wasn’t what they claimed he was. He was one of their own. Ssuddenly it was “we’ll pray for his poor soul” while still calling for revenge and retribution, despite their narrative never matching the truth.
They held a political rally for Kirk’s memorial, sold merchandise, grifted off his death, made him a martyr, and are using this shooting to justify their Reichstag moment.
How does our country move past the threat of impending civil war? Overlook a not insignificant number of people ready to slaughter their neighbors? Or process the ever-accelerating fascism in the country?
It’s a lot to process, and the situation is still ongoing. To talk of condemning political violence while advocating for more of it in response and in justification of what happened is infuriating. And to condemn political violence when that’s all this country has ever done to its people and the world, is once again ignoring its violent history that led to everything that’s happening now.
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