[Oe List ...] Hands Off Our Democracy (a Ghazal)

[Jann McGuire]

Thank you, Milan.
Jann

On Mon, Apr 7, 2025 at 12:52 PM Milan Hamilton via OE <
oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:

> *Hands Off Our Democracy*
>
> *(a ghazal for You) *
>
>
>
> Hey Mister T and Little E, please take your hands off our democracy.
>
> We do protest against your anti-democratic, sour democracy.
>
>
>
> We know you both have no need for what the rest of us humans depend on:
>
> What you label “entitlements” were voted on to power democracy.
>
>
>
> Civil servants you consider free-loaders and frauds in society,
>
> We believe are essential workers in this cowered democracy.
>
>
>
> Book bans and unlawful deportation of American citizens
>
> Must be considered to be a nation with de-flowered democracy.
>
>
>
> What did you not understand when you heard from everyone “tariff means
> tax”?
>
> And by the way, creating oligarchs makes for whor-ed democracy?
>
>
>
> Free speech, free markets, free press, freedom from fear, freedom from
> want--freedom ain’t free.
>
> The words “free” and “freedom” ring hollow in a Trump Tower democracy.
>
>
>
> Mother Earth is the last voice you will hear in our democratic pleading.
>
> Mister T and little E, here’s our glower—“Hands off our—democracy.”
>
>
>
> Milan Hamilton
>
> March 6, 2025
>
>
>
> The Ghazal (pronounced guzzle) was originally an Arabic poetic form, like
> an ode, often about unrequited or unattainable love, tracing back to
> Persian poets in the 7th century, becoming popular in the 13th & 14th
> centuries (Rumi & Hafiz), found its way to northern India, translated into
> Urdu, Hindi, Pashto, Turkish, and Hebrew. Goethe and Lorca experimented
> with it in German and Spanish. Indian musician Ravi Shankar popularized the
> form in the English-speaking world in the 1960s (the ghazal was often sung
> and accompanied Sufi dances). But it was the poet Agha Shahid Ali, who
> introduced the classical form in English to Americans. His poems “Tonight”
> and “Even the Rain” are worth a look.
>
>
>
> I chose this form for my Poem “Hands Off Our Democracy” after
> participating in the April 5th Hands Off gathering, to remind Those Who
> Care to keep the faith that being on the right side of history still
> matters.
>
> --
> Mellow Milan Hamilton
> 80 North Center Street
> Redlands, CA 92373
> Phone: (909) 943-1667
> email: mellowmilan2 at gmail.com
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>
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