The Swarm
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
From Lord of the Flies, by William Goldring
They swarm like flies, both day and night,
Just itching for a chance to fight.
They hear the megaphone. It gleams
Like nacre shell, pearlescent white.
They’ve come to find the Jew, to smite
The “Zionist pig.” The swarm takes flight—
The prospect whets an appetite
Already bursting at the seams.
__They swarm like flies,
Abuzz with slogans they recite—
So over-used, they now sound trite.
Awash in Marxist fever dreams,
They turn to see police car beams.
The cause takes on a different fight.
__They swarm like flies.
They Wear The Mask
after “We Wear The Mask”
by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
They wear the mask, which hides their face,
Providing cover to embrace
The slurs, the vitriol, the hate,
The fear and chaos they create
While occupying public space.
Regarding those they would displace,
They’d rather there was not a trace,
But deathly hallows be their fate.
__They wear the mask,
But there’s no mask that can erase
Offense against the human race.
By word and deed they denigrate
A country they don’t see as great.
They lack civility and grace.
__They wear the mask.
Cheryl Corey is a poet who lives in Connecticut. “Three Sisters,” her trio of poems about the sisters of Fate which were first published by the Society of Classical Poets, are featured in “Gods and Monsters,” an anthology of mythological poems (MacMillan Children’s Books, 2023).
Excellent poetry, Cheryl, which has tapped into a despair that the Jewish community in the USA and much of the West is experiencing these days. Your poems are skillfully crafted — especially since both are rondeaux — and memorable for their sensitive but bitter observations. The timing of these is painfully perfect: New York has the second largest Jewish population in the world (after Israel.) Yet the first things Mamdani signed into law yesterday as the new mayor of New York: 1) He revoked New York’s adoption of the international definition of antisemitism; 2) he restored New York’s legal right to boycott Israel; and 3) he reestablished the right for pro-Hamas protests in front of synagogues. How fascinating that Mamdani prioritizes marginalizing Jews and isolating Israel over the welfare of the city he’s supposed to be the mayor of. This is a terrifying time to be Jewish. Thank you for recognizing that.