Poetry

pixabay

By

Tyler Thier

Transcript 11032020

First the immigrants.

All of them?

Swiftly, yes.

And with due discretion, of course.

Then the opposing party.

We already hold the lot of it.

All remnants, gone.

Just not sure it can be done.

Allies can be a strong filter.

Fair point.

Then the academics.

Persecution can be very transparent.

Yes.

So you have a strategy?

You do, as you see fit.

I’ll weigh the options.

Then the presses.

Free speech?

Excessive. Don’t need it.

The media, too?

Done with. My people will absorb it.

Noted.

Then the artists.

Might be difficult. That could be anyone.

The good ones.

And their work?

Taken care of. The presses are dismantled.

And what’s already out there?

You destroy it.

The Internet will complicate that.

Shut it down.

Impossible.

Not when I’m in office.

I’ll work on it.

Then the protestors.

That’s anyone and everyone.

Make an example of the next batch.

You think that will stop the rest?

If not, then we declare a police state.

So complete the transition?

Precisely.

Good, that should suppress most of them.

Then the Earth.

Surely we’ll need that.

Always been Hell.

It’s a long-term threat.

Short-term only in this administration.

Immediacy. A fine tactic.

Then the religious texts.

Except for The Bible.

Then the abortion clinics.

And women’s rights.

Then the state legislatures.

Make it all federal.

Then the non-profits.

Then school programs.

Leave only the safe ones.

Then we’ll boost the nuclear budget.

Then the registration systems.

And ethnic zoning.

Then the death penalty.

Then international aggression.

Then closed borders.

Then curfews.

Then fear.

Unbridled.

The ‘Hole’ Is 12 Feet Below Street Level And About A Century Behind The Rest Of New York

Old Testament                                                                               Wellspring of weirdness,

Mafia graveyard,                                                                           ruin porn,

Brooklyn.                                                                                        the city’s shadow city.

Many pass it                                                                                   Strange, desultory –

on the way                                                                                      less New York

to JFK.                                                                                               than Arkansas.

Housing projects                                                                             Sherriff with a six-

instead of                                                                                          shooter would not

Ozarks.                                                                                              seem out of place.

                                           The true New York,

                                           with artifice stripped

                                           away—don’t wear flip flops.

Nazaryan, Alexander. “The Hole is About 12 Feet Below Street Level and About a Century Behind the Rest of New York.” Newsweek.

Tyler Thier

Tyler is an adjunct professor, faculty tutor, and freelance film critic residing in Brooklyn. His publications include the New York Public Library Zine and Film Matters, with readings at the Tree of Life Theatre Company (Toronto) and KGB Bar (NYC). His greatest interests lie in experimental and revolutionary art.