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On Charlie Kirk and His Assassins
Make people think. Engage them in debate.
Allow them to articulate with reason
The things they think. Defuse their unearned hate
And gently guide them back from wrath and treason.
Show Christian love and yet an iron hand.
Be patient with them, they are naïve youth.
But now the fractious climate of our land
Has martyred you because you spoke the truth.
Assassins stalk our country now. They’re out
And in the open. They don’t hesitate
To slander and incite, to shoot and shout,
To cancel, ruin, falsify and hate.
They claim that guns are death, but they embrace
Their use so long as it is for their cause.
They make each interaction about race
And twist sad victimhood out of their flaws.
Observe them as they slouch like rough beasts towards
An unreal city under a brown fog
Of teargas. Hear them belt out hostile chords
Of built up rage which reeks of rancid grog.
They play to dybbuks, fallen angels, Legion.
They gladly choke each harbor bay with silt.
They swarm like locusts through each state and region
Destroying things that they have never built.
Enough. Good people say the good die young
And through my rage and tears let praise be sung.
I pray that Heaven now receive the soul
Of Charlie Kirk who lived well on this Earth
Too short a time yet played a civil role
Which celebrated goodness, sense and worth;
Who taught us much is yet worth fighting for.
But not how to avoid uncivil war.
.
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Brian Yapko is a retired lawyer whose poetry has appeared in over fifty journals. He is the winner of the 2023 SCP International Poetry Competition. Brian is also the author of several short stories, the science fiction novel El Nuevo Mundo and the gothic archaeological novel Bleeding Stone. He lives in Wimauma, Florida.
Shakespeare said: “No legacy is so rich as honesty” and Charlie Kirk didn’t hold back on the truth, which is why (I believe) he is no longer with us. He challenged university students with the alternative viewpoints – the viewpoints shut down within the walls of our indoctrination system – and in doing so, he opened confused and manipulated minds to the truth they’d been denied. For that he paid the ultimate price. His life was not in vain. I am certain this brave young man’s words have touched many and will continue to do so. Brian – thank you for continuing his legacy and not remaining silent in the face of this sick warning to all who speak out against the evils of this increasingly wicked world. I thank you for your eloquent and heartfelt poem written at speed with care and passion.
Shakespeare was right, Susan, as are you. Kirk was clearly marked and martyred for telling the truth and refusing to play along with all the destructive fictions the left demands. He actually made young people think for themselves. And that made him dangerous. I believe, like you, that his life was not in vain. All of us who value truth should continue his legacy. When it comes to evil and falsity, silence is complicity.
Releasing people who kill others is encouraging evil
May his soul rest in Peace
Absolute truth. I join in your prayer and thank you, nosa, for reading and commenting.
Brian, this is a powerful poem on two excruciatingly painful subjects — the murder of Charlie Kirk, and the kind of politicized left-liberal zombies who have brought it about with their fanaticism.
The murder of the rightist Deputy Calvo Sotelo is what ignited the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Conservatives in Spain said “No more!” and rose up in fury to smash the leftists. Could such a thing happen here? I don’t know. But if it did, I know that we on the right would tear the left to bloody shreds.
Thank you, Joe. When I heard the news about Kirk’s death, I veered between grief and rage. When I decided I could only get my feelings out on paper, I realized that I did not have to choose. Heartbreak and anger both seem to me the natural reaction to what has happened.
Will this event lead to civil war? It’s already upon us. The only question is whether it’s cold or hot. Either way, a turning point has been reached. People on the Right will no longer accept this type of demented crap. Never again.
Thank you Brian. You have in this poem, picked up his
mantle.
Thank you, Kellie. I’m very touched by this comment. I wish I could say this was true but I do not have Charlie Kirk’s breadth of knowledge, his faith, his charisma or his ability to engage with young people. The more I think about it, the sadder I get at what a unique and gifted man he was and what a loss this is. That being said, I know you, I and others of like mind will not let him be forgotten and will carry on his message. It will take many to pick up his mantle and do what he did.
I’m extremely impressed that you could produce something so powerful mere hours after this appalling crime and the sharpness of your diction only adds to the poem’s urgency. Your technique is flawless as ever, but to dwell on that would seem tasteless given the timing and subject matter.
Not being Amercian, I usually don’t like to comment on the political situation in your part of the world but the United States is truly in a very dark place when someone as well-mannered and reasonable as Mr Kirk is targeted for cold-blooded murder by those who saw him as a political enemy.
Thank you so much, Shaun. I was literally pacing the floor listening to the news and feeling like I had to do something useful. Then I stared at a blank computer screen wondering how do I convey my sense of heartbreak almost overpowered by rage? Then it just sort of poured out. The Muse helped because I was incapable on my own.
Regrettably, your observation about the U.S. is spot-on. We are indeed in a very dark place. I would never before have conceived of a second civil war in this country and yet I’m finding myself hard-pressed to imagine a solution in which each half of the country wants the other half gone. One of the great tragedies here is that Charlie Kirk was a voice of reason and reconciliation. He actually wanted people to talk to each other and engage in healthy debate. The depth of loss from the murder of such a voice is profound.
Brian, your great poem written so perfectly captures the thoughts and feelings of every reasonable person who has just witnessed the unthinkable slaying of our martyr, Charles Kirk. You not only captured my own rage at the irrational incident but put everything in its proper perspective! How could security not cover another rooftop as they failed to do with the Trump assassination attempt? How can the left keep getting away with shooting those who choose to present and debate issues of the day and times? Then I read about the unfathomable killing of the girl from the Ukraine by someone with mental illness who was released without bail by a judge in Carolina. How long can we tolerate such devils in society who commit such atrocities and those who aid and abet them? Your poem should be posted everywhere in our country and sent to Congress.
Thank you so much, Roy. I really appreciate your generosity as a critic but also your high level experience and insights concerning both the politics of the assassination and the logistics of the crime. I also cannot fathom how someone who has stirred up so much controversy was not afforded adequate security at such an event. As I write these words, it appears they have just made an arrest of the assassin. But I can’t believe how difficult it was. And now we must dread the woke support for this killer that will surely arise — the Go-Fund-Me fundraisers and the Facebook memes and the love letters that disgusting leftists sporting jack-o-lantern grins will fling at those of us who grieve. Just as they did with Luigi Mangione.
And I’m with you on the subject of the Ukrainian woman killed on the submay in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is heinous to me how violence and political assassination is so accepted by the Left. I heard about House Republicans wanting to say a prayer and observe a minute of silence for Charlie Kirk only to get shouted down by the Democrats. Evil people. Simply evil. There are devils in our society now and we can no longer afford to give them any quarter. Suicidal empathy has run its course.
Brian, God bless you for composing this poem on such short notice. The SCP community is fortunate to have your talented voice.
Thank you so much for this, Cheryl. Your kind words mean a lot to me. The SCP community is like a family to me and I’m very grateful for all that we share with each other. Including grief.
I’m now waiting & praying for a relentless rebuttal from those who are capable of evening the score, which is what it demands! No more merely ‘turning the other cheek’. The ‘first shot’ has been fired. God bless you for this, Brian.
Thank you for reading and commenting, Mark. I am glad to know that the killer has finally been apprehended and that justice will be served. Yes, the first shot has been fired and I agree — the other cheek has already been turned and was abused as a result. The response must be decisive. And I pray we don’t have to hear from the Left about what a “hero” this monster assassin is. Though I fear it’s inevitable that they’ll vaunt him as a symbol of “the Resistance.” In fact, I just read that one of the bullets included the phrase “Bella ciao” on it. As I understand it, that refers to a song which was sung by the Italian Resistance (Marxists?) and later coopted by Castro’s Cuban revolutionaries. The Left will eat that up.
I too feel the rage and frustration of the Culture War being deadly. But hate is ‘taking poison hoping to harm the other guy’. Maybe we need a cease fire; I think we need a real leader and a third way – LOL.
You will never get a ceasefire from left-liberals, who are the representatives of a new, young, highly energized, and fanatical religion. Persons of that sort, driven by moral certainty and an absolutist sense of entitlement, cannot conceive of any compromise of their position except as a shameful surrender.
The same was true of Communism, Nazism, and Maoism. No partisan of those causes could tolerate the slightest deviation from political orthodoxy under any circumstances.
The established Democrat Party is jackrabbit terrified of its hard left-liberal base, and will not dare to say or do anything that might enrage them. Look at the barely disguised terror in the faces of Pelosi and Schumer, who are paralyzed by the thought that the leftists will turn on them savagely if they make the slightest concession to sanity.
To have a ceasefire, both sides need to be willing to stop fighting. The dangerous religious fanatics that we call left-liberals will never agree to that.
David, I could understand your point of view if we were dealing with normal, traditional Democrats. But the party has shifted so far leftward that all I’m seeing from leftists is the most vile, heinous celebration of the murder of this incredibly talented and good-hearted human being. Joe Salemi is correct. There will be no ceasefire from the far left ever. They want to burn it all down. If they cared about either peace or evidence, we would have a unified country. I no longer want a third way. You may, and that’s your perogative, but they certainly don’t.
This is a great poem, Brian.
“When people stop talking, really bad stuff starts. When marriages stop talking, divorce happens. When civilizations stop talking, civil war ensues. When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group.
What we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have reasonable disagreement—where violence is not an option.”
– Charlie Kirk.
He was a man of courage, principle and peace.
Thank you so much, Mike. After reading and re-reading this quote of his, I am becoming a bit teary. He had great insight not only into history and social interactions and dysfunctions, but into the human heart. He had a depth which most of his debaters could not begin to match — and that was one of the reasons they hated him. You are so right about him being a man of courage, principle and peace. In brief, he was a mensch. And he was taken from us far too young. When I think of his wife as a widow and his little children being fatherless, I’m drawn back into a rage — not only at the assassin but the whole mindset and political climate that could allow for such a heinous act. And the fact that so many on the Left are celebrating this disgusts me down to my marrow.
Evan, I just want to say thank you for publishing this poem so quickly. Your desire to keep readers informed and to give them a forum to discuss hot-topic issues is truly laudable. And, I must say, you could not have chosen a more perfect photograph. It truly looks as if Charlie Kirk is crowned by a halo. As I am certain he now is.
I want to thank you, Brian, for writing this poem so quickly. Amen.
Thank you so much, Cynthia. I had to get some of the grief and rage out of my system — fast. Writing poetry definitely helps.
There is no one less tolerant and more violent than a member of the self-described tolerant and peaceful progressive left
Warren, you have said a mouthful. It’s astonishing that they can still think they are nice people when they are willing to resort to any means to obtain the results they want. Their social justice/social engineering projects are so breathtakingly narcissistic in conception and scope that… well, don’t get me started. Needless to say, they may groove on what awesome people they think they are are but history will judge them harshly.
Great work on this tribute to Charlie Kirk, Brian. I imagine it must have been quite a challenge to write this within a short period, but you masterfully captured the integrity of Charlie Kirk’s stewardship while acknowledging the devastating impact of his loss.
The first two lines in the fourth stanza resonate with me. I find that what makes the imagery in your poem so poignant is that it truly illustrates the reality of what we’re up against: not just a fight between good vs. evil, but the challenge of living in such a way where we have to actively conquer evil with good.
Again, great work.
Thank you so much, Joanna. I so appreciate your reading and commenting. It was a challenge, I admit. I had so much emotion that was out of control and I just sat in front of an empty computer screen not knowing how to say how much I was both heartbroken and enraged. Then I realized the answer was to write about both things.
I’m especially glad those two lines resonated with you. They do with me as well. The line starting with “Enough” pivots away from resentment towards something more aligned with prayers and praise. I don’t think I’m there yet, but I’m grateful to know that there are many of us who feel grief and rage and yet want to see it channeled in a way that is constructive.
Bless you Brian, plenty hated him, plenty loved him, my grandson, in university, signed up for Project Turning Point USA last week, his organization. I cried twelve hours. I still feel lost. Great poem, Charlie’s body is on Air Force two right now going back to his home in Arizona. And he will be blessed with the Congressional Medal of Freedom. Unique… American principles matter. Great poem.
NOTE… 3pm. US Academy under alert. Crazed student with gun going from door to door shooting cadets… one is in route to hospital in serious condition.
Patricia, I’m so grateful for your reading and commenting. I am touched by how much this murder has affected you. I, too, have found myself alternating between grief and rage. I am so sad for your grandson now that Charlie has died and will not be able to offer his wisdom as part of Turning Point. We have all been robbed too soon of a great educator and advocate.
Thank you for posting about the US Academy. I had not heard about this news since the assassination has been so dominant. I just looked it up and now it appears that it was mostly online misinformation that created a terrible scene: there was no active shooter but a student was shot after he mistook law enforcement for the nonexistent active shooter. What a mess. I hope he recovers. And it just goes to show how dangerous misinformation on the internet can be.
While many of us are still struggling with the tragic death of Charlie Kirk, you have poetically expressed a profound tribute to his remarkable life; he impacted our country in life and will continue even in death, through the passion of those of us willing to carry his mantle of truth.
Thank you very much indeed, Paulette. He did indeed have a remarkable life. I’m over twice his age and have not accomplished even a fraction of what he did in his 31 years. I am very hopeful that his legacy will live on in a big way. I will do my best to carry his mantle of truth and I know of a number of others on this site who will do their best as well.
Just a quick note to any readers baffled by the third stanza which I packed rather full as I wrote with a certain frenzied mania: It contains an allusion to William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming” (“what rough beast, its hour come round at last,/Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?)
It also references T.S. Eliott’s “The Waste Land” and that “Unreal City/Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,/A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,/I had not thought death had undone so many.”
“Grog” (along with rum) was the drink of choice for many a 17th and 18th Century pirate.
And a “dybbuk” is, in Jewish folklore, a malicious disembodied spirit which possesses people and causes mental illness.
Thank you again for reading.
Go, Brian. Your unflinching honesty and personal integrity always back-light your meticulously-crafted poems. Kirk was nonpareil, a virtual exemplar of what it means to be a good person.
Thank you very much for this comment, C.B., which means a great deal to me. I had very much hoped to do Charlie Kirk some justice. Like you, I consider him to be the exemplar of a good person and I hope his example of generosity of spirit, gentlemanly demeanor, intellectual integrity and solid logic is widely remembered and emulated.
Exactly, Brian. My first word on hearing the news was a “No!” of disbelief. The next words (aloud with others) were traditional prayers for the deceased. They will be continued for 30 days. This was a good time to be on retreat and away from it all. Now that I am back to my usual responsibilities, I find that every Catholic I know is praying for Charlie Kirk. He was not just a good person or a civil voice, but was on the cusp of becoming a powerful force for civilization. He had become emphatic about “wokeism” being the religion filling the vacuum left by the abandonment of Christian civilization, especially for the young. He had gone into the moral implications of that in recent in-depth interviews. Your poem’s horror at the assassins points in the direction some of them take. Your prayer is the natural civilized response.
Thank you very much, Margaret. That “No!’ of disbelief is so real and vivid… and painful. We have lost someone who truly had the potential to help guide our country back to a place of civilization and decency. My prayers for Charlie Kirk — and for the world — continue unabated. I am hoping that heartbreak combined with rage may develop into a powerful force for good. Charlie’s widow, Erika, said Charlie’s mission will become “stronger, bolder, louder and greater than ever.” This may well be. Over 18,000 new chapter requests for his organization, Turning Point USA, have bene received since his death.
Brian, thanks for this skilfully written piece. Kirk’s death appalled me but I was honestly not that surprised. In a political climate where leftists believe that their opponents are deserving of death, it was a matter of when, not if. The gloating and mockery about this killing, in much of social media and even mainstream media, shows how the wokerati have gone collectively insane.
In the UK, too, we’ve seen politicians killed, and I am sure that more terror attacks, against prominent figures or ordinary people, are on their way. I pray for the West.
Thank you very much, David. I suppose that I should not have been surprised. But I would have expected a different target from a respectful young man who met college kids at their own level rather than talking at them or down to them. That this builder of bridges should be a target is very upsetting to me. And the celebrations of his death make me sick to my stomach. I am shocked into the sobering awareness that these same people who would celebrate the deaths of ordinary people of decency — and that writers and poets are not immune. I, too, pray for the West. And I pray for the safety of everyone who dares to speak the truth.
I will also echo the admiration for your ability to pen this in such short time. Considering what we’ve learned since, I think you got it exactly right.
Thank you so much, Adam. I think the worst thing out of all of this is finding out that 45% of the population would celebrate and whoop and holler if the rest of us were dead. Ghouls. And they have the oblivious, self-absorbed privileged chutzpah to think they are nice people and have the moral highground. Prove me wrong.