And These Two Despots Smile
“where organs switch one human to another,
where one stays live, and one’s a discard donor.”
—Damian Robin
While walking side by side at the huge military show,
dictators Xi Jinping and Putin, talking to and fro,
were caught on a hot mike, discussing organ harvesting,
and living for one-hundred-fifty years by targeting
a captive citizenry of CCP prisoners,
like Uyghurs, dissidents, and Falun Gong practitioners,
a Chinese population shrinking, sinking all the while;
great cities turn in to ghost towns, and these two despots smile.
At Utah Valley College
For his debates, he was a martyr to sheer, vile hate.
Assassination reared its head, two-hundred yards away.
The grisly act, that fact; his blood was spilled, his life was stilled.
At Utah Valley College, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed.
His life was taken, in the nation that he truly loved,
amidst a flood of wickedness. Where is the mourning dove?
Bruce Dale Wise is a poet and former English teacher currently residing in Texas.
Bruce, in the “Two Despots” poem, you’ve struck on the only way these fellows would ever need to be concerned about the current very slight downturn in China’s population. That is, if Xi and Putin really were able to succeed in living 150 years, which is most improbable, even by the abhorrent means you mention. China’s population remains effectively at its highest level ever (1.4 billion), which has caused the new construction of cities to accommodate populations equaling those of the world’s largest cities. If birth-rate drop and aging trends continue, some of these will become ghost towns, but not any time soon. You’ve taken a good look at the despotic mindset, subtly adding to it the classic Chinese veneration for longevity.
The other poem, about Charlie Kirk, I like a little less than the four lines you posted on the day of the assassination. That because in those four lines you didn’t specify a reason. All of our many Kirk poems (and there will be more) are at least a little vague about why Charlie was killed. He was a debater, he spoke truth, and many martyrs may have done so, but that doesn’t reveal the genuine passion behind what can really be called martyrdom. Like the other poets, I can’t put it into words–just as I think you have difficulty here describing what’s behind the genuine mourning we’ll all witnessed. Two fine tries on your part!
First off, I would not concur with Ms. Coats’ assessment that the Chinese population is at its highest level ever (1.4 billion); in fact, I would suggest it is less that 1 billion, a “population shrinking, sinking…” The ghost cities are already here; and look at what is happening to Shanghai, to Beijing, to so many cities and towns across China. The Russians themselves, with an even smaller population, are following suit.
But, of course it is the poetry that matters. In the first poem, I acknowledge the British poet Damian Robin (1951-2023) whose book “Organ Harvest” tackled, in more detail and profundity, the issue which informs this brief poem (a single sentence). What I liked about this docupoem is its simplicity, its balances, and its soundscape.
“At Utah Valley College” is an even shorter poem, but unlike Ms. Coats, I didn’t prefer the first four lines as much for several reasons—1) what is withheld; 2) a metrical flaw; and 3) and the lack of an emotional anchor. Both works, of course, are following the Realists, like Bierce, Melville, Stephen Crane, et. al., a very difficult tone to attain.
You have, as expected, lived up to your last name. There is real wisdom in both of these, as disturbing as they both are.
Dale, both poems speak to us. The first, of likely discussions by evil leaders, and the second, of the tragedy in Utah.
I think Mr. Peterson’s pro forma observation does fit with these two short poems.
Both the satire and the trochaic tetrameters ironically inform Mr. Bonham’s seven-stanza “Ode to Antifa”, where the rhymes are fun, but deadly serious, e. g., furor/Führer. The mostly anglo-saxon diction, likewise, is peppered with contemporary slang. As to the structure of an ode, Mr. Bonham need not fret; for no American poet has approached the intricacy of a Pindar, or the solidity of an Horace.
First off, I would not concur with Ms. Coats’ assessment that the Chinese population is at its highest level ever (1.4 billion); in fact, I would suggest it is less that 1 billion, a “population shrinking, sinking…” The ghost cities are already here; and look at what is happening to Shanghai, to Beijing, to so many cities and towns across China. The Russians themselves, with an even smaller population, are following suit.
But, of course it is the poetry that matters. In the first poem, I acknowledge the British poet Damian Robin (1951-2023) whose book “Organ Harvest” tackled, in more detail and profundity, the issue which informs this brief poem (a single sentence). What I liked about this docupoem is its simplicity, its balances, and its soundscape.
“At Utah Valley College” is an even shorter poem, but unlike Ms. Coats, I didn’t prefer the first four lines as much for several reasons—1) what is withheld; 2) a metrical flaw; and 3) and the lack of an emotional anchor. Both works, of course, are following the Realists, like Bierce, Melville, Stephen Crane, et. al., a very difficult tone to attain.
Here is the quatrain to which Ms. Coats refers
The grisly act, this horrid fact, more blood has now been spilled.
At Utah Valley College, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed.
The hate continues unabated; death claims one more day.
Assassination rears its ugly head, two-hundred yards away.
“…you…took up the immediate creation of four most expressive lines on the very day of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. They are as good or better than others presented here and elsewhere. The “two hundred yards away” ending brings the “grisly act” close to each reader. Excellent technique effectively brought out for a horrid moment, that one of us has called the “President Kennedy moment” for today’s youth and children.”
Upon reflection, I do agree with Ms. Coats observations; however, while trying to incorporate the earlier poem into the latter, perhaps there is a diminution in th’ emotional impact; but I still like the final couplet’s rhyme, question, and contrast.
At Utah Valley College
For his debates, he was a martyr to sheer, vile hate.
Assassination reared its head, two-hundred yards away.
The grisly act, that fact; his blood was spilled, his life was stilled.
At Utah Valley College, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed.
His life was taken, in the nation that he truly loved,
amidst a flood of wickedness. Where is the mourning dove?