Three Poems on Fascism
Photo: monthlyreview,org
By Sabyasachi Nag
How to Make a Fascist?
It’s easy making a Fascist, just for fun.
First you build the frame,
With sticks, if you will –
Stick on top of sticks.
Then you make the arms.
Then you put the shirt on.
An old plaid shirt used to be good enough
In olden times, try plain homespun,
Or silk, if you can afford, or plastic,
(Just to flip the finger at the Oceans).
Orange or saffron best attracts the sun.
Slide the shirt through the arms.
Stuff with hay, if you have hay.
Hay is cheap. But, if you can manage,
Try dried cow dung – that stuff is most potent;
Works mind blowing best, keeping pests out.
Now give him hands.
Give him feet. Give him face –
Half way between a smile and a scowl
(Just to plant the doubt in the seeker and apostate).
Make sure the mouth is half open
For the wind to whistle in the dogs.
Make sure to secure him to the fence.
Because a Fascist can be weird –
He can’t stay still and almost always falls
Even to the slightest breeze.
Make sure to move him around the yard
Every now and often, because the pests
He’s meant to scare; they get fucking smart.
And almost always figure him out fast.
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Only Some Are Fighting the Fascist
Only some of us are fighting the fascist.
Only some. Others know better.
Of course, it’s a shame, but no fault –
No one taught us and we have been told
To know better. Pick wisely.
Time will take its course; shut up and eat.
Those that are out on the streets –
Clenched fists, banging at the white-hot sky –
What do they know? How far could they go?
No one taught us and we have been told
To know better. Keep safe.
History will happen at midnight; shut up and sleep.
Those that are dead, fighting, and those wounded
On gurneys pointed to the netted, starless, window –
What do they know? How far did they get?
No one taught us and we have been told
To know better. Stay on the winning side always.
Times will change; it always does; shut up and pray.
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How to Fight a Fascist from Your Armchair
Fight him like a common cold.
Soak your feet in warm water –
Open a window. Breathe!
Take a pain reliever, maybe.
You know what – maybe don’t.
Open a window, look out at the street.
Drink a little broth, maybe –
Lemon with honey for those out, resisting
A fascist, with sticks and stones.
Open the window, feel him coming.
Take a lozenge, spray your throat, try hard candy.
Make sure you work the tongue constantly.
Don’t’ choke. You got to be alive for this.
Open the window. Breathe!
You are a loser if you cry.
You are a loser if you don’t.
Hold on to the salt.
You will need to gargle later, sometime.
Open the window.
Don’t try to shout down the dirty wind.
Sleep well. Your body needs to heal.
Vitamin C, echinacea, zinc,
Radical measures, whatever you do
Don’t do antibiotics.
Nothing can cure a common cold.
Remember. Nor the hardness
Shall last forever. Remember.
Now take a picture when he’s shrunk
Like a tonsil at the rear of your throat.
Now cut it, if he won’t pay.
Bio:
Sabyasachi Nag (Sachi) is the author of two previous collections of poetry: Bloodlines (Writers Workshop, 2006) and Could You Please, Please Stop Singing (Mosaic Press, 2015). His third poetry collection, Uncharted (Mansfield Press) is forthcoming in Spring 2020. His work has appeared, or is forthcoming in several anthologies and publications including Canadian Literature, Grain, The Antigonish Review, The Dalhousie Review, The Maynard and Vallum among others. He is a graduate of the Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University and holds a graduate certificate in Creative Writing from the Humber School for Writers.
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One Response to “Three Poems on Fascism”
Really don’t know what to comment on after going through the 3 poems on Fascism. First thing that comes to mind is a Scarecrow. And scarecrow like fascist, I think, are meant to do nothing else but to share the common man. Fight a screcrow? But why should you? They are also meant to keep the pests out!!! But does Fascism aim to do the same thing??
Don’t know. I for one, have always been fearful of the scarecrows….