Minnesotans! There’s plenty of room in my FREE workshop Sunday, April 6, 1-4 Central time: Rewriting the Story, Reclaiming the Self. This workshop, held via Zoom, is designed for anyone living with the memories, recent or long ago, of abuse: bullying, domestic violence, an emotionally abusive relationship, a sexual or physical assault. Click here for more information and to register. All are welcome, no writing experience necessary.
I never understood until now, deep down in my gut and in a way that jolts me awake throughout the night, how Hitler came to power so horrifyingly fast. Please, save me from hatred and disdain. Save me from refusing to see the hopes and dreams of others as equal to my own.
Refugees, by Brian Bilston
They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or I
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way
(Now read from bottom to top.)
Click here for more information about Brian Bilston. I first found this poem last week on poet George Bilgere’s wonderful poetry site Poetry Town.
alisonmcghee.com
My podcast: Words by Winter
Alison McGhee 
“They” were born just like us. The basic forces of their nature is the same for all human beings. But they have also bought into what we can see are insidious lies. JD telling them Greenland needs the US and welcomes its protection. This is where they have placed their trust. They only go to their news sources. They have been told for years that all of the other news is lies.
My only way to absorb it all is through Lao Tzu’s advice in the Tao Te Ching. By quietly and with alertness stand back. When I mud sling, I harden. I am unable to see what is really happening because my anxiety and anger distort my vision. I can have my anxiety and anger but I am not going to fling it at them. The energy created by the back and forth is toxic. We all cherry pick who and what we will believe so all that rage spewing off the socials is only preaching to the choir and we are in different choirs. So I watch. Ursula Le Guin translates the tao … be armed without weapons because nothing is worse than attacking what yields. Verse 69. It’s hard. But we have done hard things before and will again.
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You are so right on all counts, Sheilagh. And the back and forthing is so toxic.
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I left a comment below the poem but I think it disappeared into the ether. You can have your hatred and disdain. How could most of us not? But I find letting myself voice those goes directly into the toxic sludge oozing off the socials. No argument will win anything. Nobody is listening
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It’s here! Above. And the toxic sludge is why I don’t comment on social media political posts. I don’t want to be toxic.
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