Twins of Division

 

The religion of politics

and the politics of religion

are twins of division.

Both need money, prejudice,

demons created from difference,

and a superiority complex

they own the keys to the kingdom.

Pay a tax … Pay a tithe

Elections are bought …

Pastors need a bigger salary.

Politicians don’t want history taught.

Preachers want complete agreement.

Go tell it on the mountain

they both are at war with peace.

©Susie Clevenger 2026

If There's a Spotlight in Hell (Day 1 NaPoWriMo)

 

How do I glitter empty

when leather words

are all I hear?

You know the kind,

cracked, broken, 

overused, beyond repair. 

I waver between rage

and whatever while staring

into my coffee cup searching

for a crystal ball in the caffeine.

If there’s a spotlight in hell,

I know a few who would 

burn the lightbulb into their image. 

There’s not enough school in a politician

to read a room or hear an opinion

that hasn’t fallen out of their own tongue. 

I’m having a moment among many.

Today I’m feeling like the news is

filled with a pack of rabid children

I’d like to chase with a needle

so they won’t put their teeth

in anyone else. 

©Susie Clevenger 2025

Shay's Word Garden Word List ~ Game Six

Squabble of Thumping Cackle

Spring is a cackle grackle

ceremony of black wings

fighting over a single seed.

It strikes me a bit like

a political debate 

where there’s no moderator

to control a feather duster

storm of opinions.

I swear if they could drink wine

they would be drunk on their own voices

before one sip of cabernet could be swallowed. 

Do humans cheat in their chicanery

by stealing their audacity from a bird

who has no fear or care electric wire

could change from a seat into a fryer?

Grackles have so much toxic air in their bombasticity 

it is a wonder anything around them can breathe. 

©Susie Clevenger 2024

Word Garden Word List ~ Richard Wilbur