‘Parroting the Party Line’ and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant

Parroting the Party Line

i. The Chorus of Consensus

—a triolet

The talking heads squawk on and on.
From dawn the hawks and parrots pound.
They harp and hammer—LOUD and l o n g.
The talking heads squawk on and on.
They shape the sheep—a spellbound throng
Ensorcelled by the ceaseless sound.
The talking heads squawk on and on.
Till dusk the hawks and parrots hound.

ii. By Any Other Name

—a villanelle

A pangolin is not a parakeet.
A fib won’t force a fact to fade away.
A lie when labelled truth is still deceit.

Veracity will not admit defeat—
In spite of what the gassy gurus say
A platypus is not a parakeet.

The eggheads scramble brains until they’re beat.
The mobs and movers spar and spin and sway.
A lie when labelled truth is still deceit.

An ear of wheat is not a sugar beet.
A pumpkin pie is not a peach parfait.
A pugapoo is not a parakeet.

Beware the wily, woolly wolves who bleat
That cockatoos were shih tzus yesterday.
A lie when labelled truth is still deceit.

I’ve told the flustered flocks on Cuckoo Street
A parakeet will never be a jay.
A lie when labelled truth is still deceit.
A parakeet is but a parakeet.

The Granny Sanitizer

—for a utopian cyber experience

Put polished parlance in Gran’s loutish mouth.
Let joyous jargon grace audacious lips.
Stop gutter gab from plunging further south.
Curtail her torrid tongue before it slips.
Immerse her salt in syrup. Halt the spread
Of stinging lingo—minimize her bark.
Stem snippy tides of sass you’ve come to dread.
Ditch rebel rants, too stoic and too stark.
Each time your silver zoomer looms to greet
The grandkids with a brazen-boomer view,
Click sanitize—make candor obsolete
With tech-corrected chat of rosy hue.
Zap bold and bitter patter with our app.
This brave new world won’t sanction Granny’s yap.

Susan Jarvis Bryant is a poet originally from the U.K., now living on the Gulf Coast of Texas.