Poetry

Susan Melkisethian photo

By

Norberto Franco Cisneros

Overcoming Dotards

The world is in fear in solitary despair

Floating till the day

When all will be gone

Nothing to remain

Darkening shadows obscure the sun’s rays hiding lies that seek to obliterate truths

foreshadowing truculent events peering on the horizon of a country’s destiny

they, the dotards, do show up at times with virulent attitudes, ranting, pointing fingers,

accusing and promising greater tomorrows but with a wink

since those promised tomorrows are not meant for all only the wealthy get the nod

the rest will be dispatched to the mongrels seeking scraps at the homunculi’s whim

Seeking immortality on the backs of an unsuspecting public

those privileged pseudo dictators, dotards really,

who know nothing of struggle and the unimaginable sacrifice of working people

yet they strut with self-righteous arrogance

We are bombarded daily with the boundless voracity of the rich

yet slivers of spirit still adhere to us forever ingrained in our souls by past heroes’ deeds

may God save us from racist, misanthropists and weak-minded sexist old men

Bent on making the world their golden oyster

We the people are reaching the end of oligarchic power

confiscating everything

but our return fire is intense; our votes grow steady and will knock them out

we will confront them wherever they stand

We know they will always cower before truth and justice

our tenacious mettle was forged by our forefathers;

it is our inheritance bequeathed to us in blood and tears

We, the offspring of those early patriots can do no less than to repel the enemies of Democracy

who defile our rights with their ungodly wealth

we march in the rain holding our flimsy placards against the might of this empire

yet we will be forever triumphant in those battles

In this our beloved country, working people have struggled for over two hundred years,

fighting fiercely, sacrificing life, limb and hearth, it has been a long and arduous fight

by no stretch perfect yet we hand this hard fought Democratic Republic to our children

with great expectations that they tend to it and make it better

The legacy of our nation has been written and it is our destiny to be one community, one people

with rich and poor living side by side exercising benevolence

with the government under our control we can overcome evil dotards

that will always crawl in the muck that proliferates in America.

Fake Alternatives

Our stories unite us

Even the revealing ones

Which are the beginning of

Reality and truth

Truth reveals faults

Faults define honesty

Honesty constructs pillars

That give you stability

But some men are afraid of

Truth, reality and honesty

Honesty they avoid

Searching for alternative facts

A man without humility

Is like a well without water

Water becomes entangled with trash

Trash infests their brains

But trash is productive

When recycled

Recycled lives produce

Valuable people

A man’s worth to society becomes valued

When truth and honesty

Are not a reach for self-promoting lies

But his way of life.

THE PEOPLE MADE SUCCESS OF THIS ELECTION

ON TO 2020 AND A GOOD FRUITFUL FUTURE BURNING

AND THE VOTES CHURNING FOR PEACE AND COMMON SENSE

WITH INTELLIGENCE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR ALL

Norberto Franco Cisneros

My poems have been published in the following publications: Indiana University Journal Chiricu; Avocet Review (Avocet Press); Snow Jewel (Grey Sparrow Press); Ilumen (Mouthfeel Press/ Sam’s Dot Publishing) and several others, including e-zines, Black Petals, Ruhatish and have been a Featured Poet in Poetry Soup