Hope In A Time Of Demagogues
A Poem Of Loss And Hope
History says don’t hope / On this side of the grave.
–Seamus Heaney
Demagogues intensify problems,
making them worse.
They pit people against each other.
That’s the whole point.
Others try to help with their words and speaking.
They see problems, even big ones, as fair game.
They speak out. They talk of help and healing.
They write stories about fear and fairness.
They put their bodies in needed places,
their lives standing for what might be
unpopular in the moment, but right.
They connect rather than separate.
Sometimes, they lose.
OK, many times.
But even in their losing,
they win something precious.
The culture may grind them down for a time.
Maybe a long time. There are no guarantees.
But once in a while, what’s right gets nudged, then
as the great poet once said, “hope and history rhyme.”
© Dale Biron
April 2020
