Inauguration day.
\nThe clouds won’t go away.
\nThe sky above D.C. is almost dark.
\nThere’s protest down the block
\nfrom people still in shock.
\nThe contrast to the past events is stark.
\nOne remembers J.F.K.,
\nand what he said on that great day,
\nflanked by Jackie and the poet Frost.
\nNow there stands this man,
\norange is his tan.
\nOne can only think that all is lost.
\nAs he lays his small hand on the bible,
\nmodel wife beside, to take the oath,
\none thinks of his history of libel,
\nfeeling grief or disbelief, or both.
\n"Lock her up," and “Grab her by the pussy,"
\nshouts an angry voice within the crowd.
\n"Someone beat that man," says our electee,
\n“Hurt him badly, do your country proud."
\nSo begins the year of our undoing.
\nSilence is the order of the day.
\nUnder this, there is a violence stewing.
\nBuild a wall around yourself and pray.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Inauguration day. The clouds won’t go away. The sky above D.C. is almost dark. There’s protest down the block from people still in shock. The contrast to the past events is stark. One remembers J.F.K., and what he said on that great day, flanked by Jackie and the poet Frost. Now there stands this man, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[3,4],"class_list":["post-827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem-2","tag-poem","tag-poetry-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2307,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=2307","url_meta":{"origin":827,"position":0},"title":"New Year’s Delay","author":"Rick Young","date":"December 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This new year's eve, there's no reprieve from ghosts of old years past. The orange pall which cloaked\u00a0us all now seems that it will last. It needs another twenty days to dissipate its\u00a0frisson, and then another several months to put that pall in prison. There'll be no horns or party\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1414,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=1414","url_meta":{"origin":827,"position":1},"title":"Big Red Tie","author":"Rick Young","date":"June 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"What do you say to your father, Eric and Don? That all depends if the tape recorder's on. If it's rolling, then it's, Happy Father's Day! If it's not, then, What'd Putin send your way? We're both hoping it's a big red tie. Or a manual on how to lie.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1897,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=1897","url_meta":{"origin":827,"position":2},"title":"Martin and Lewis, Together Again","author":"Rick Young","date":"July 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"John Lewis finally\u00a0crossed that bridge, he's on the other side. He now rests with Reverend\u00a0King, and we have one less guide. They broke his skull in Selma, as he, protesting, knelt. Served thirty years in Congress. His passion was heartfelt. He always worked for justice, used non-violence to fight strife.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Obit"","block_context":{"text":"Obit","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2007,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=2007","url_meta":{"origin":827,"position":3},"title":"Dick Tooter","author":"Rick Young","date":"September 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you want to be nice, you could vote for me twice while I work out my kill-the-mail scheme. I'm the nightmare the hippies saw coming, the anti-Amerikan dream. I'll blow up all racial pretensions and continue to subvert the law. With my planeload of dark thugs inventions, I can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Song"","block_context":{"text":"Song","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2772,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=2772","url_meta":{"origin":827,"position":4},"title":"Weigh My Dust.","author":"Rick Young","date":"June 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"(Note from the author's son: Below is a snippet from one of our email exchanges in June 2021. I felt compelled to share this mention of a title for a poem.) Weight down to 179 today, aiming next\u00a0at high school mark of 150. Then a zen-like 85. 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