Tuesday, March 7, 2017

On Politics and Palliative Care



The Right is like a surgical service, 
with an aesthetic of bold, decisive, curative action.  
Out of balance or in excess, it is prone to brutality and mutilation.

The Left is like a medicine service, 
with an aesthetic of wholistic, inclusive, restorative measures.  
Out of balance or in excess, it is prone to wishful or magical thinking.

The patient, though, is very sick.  
See the open, festering sores of wars and hatred
that are not healing and not closing.

Denial predisposes to harmful choices
Those desperate for false promises
fall prey to the lowest among thieves 

So before signing up for the lobotomy
or wheatgrass juice enema
consider the Palliative Care consult

Imagine neither service has the answers
What will the descent look like?
How shall it be faced?

The end may not be near
but it is not too soon to ask the questions
Lest we lose our souls for fear of the crumbling of bones.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's good to see you back at it.