E.V. Wyler’s most recent poem to appear here was “To Bear Witness” (July 2017).

The Hogweeds of Hogwash
By E.V. Wyler

Under mottled lights of marbleized moonbeams,
if gargoyles leapt from gutters
to garden the Wastelands of Hogwash
and tallied deceptions with offensive flowers
in fields where fallacies bloom, then
giant hogweeds would appropriately designate
the poppycock politicians repeatedly spout!

. . . And before these buffoons finish
tweeting divisive twaddle, we’d see
giddy gardeners grabbing their dibbers, and
over newly planted hogweeds, we’d hear
giggling gargoyles thanking the Fakers
for ad-libbed labels like “Makers” and “Takers”!

. . . And when the nocturnal escapades conclude,
boastful ingrates and bestial gargoyles would be
unaware that under the rays of reason,
giant hogweeds’ photo-sensitive toxins expose
miniature men peddling its poisonous sap

to a clever electorate holding the antidote:
Americans, united in our humanity, possess
copious common sense! As the humble
inhabitants of a mystical wheel (prone
to unpredictable rotations) we realize:

. . . The initial dispersion of our stations
is determined by birth, an external force
that continually helps or hinders
all evolving internal forces
motivating individual drive and achievement . . .

. . . Wealth’s (disparate) distribution
is based upon power imbalances
between those on top
striving to sustain their status
and those below
climbing the spokes
on the ladder of their labor . . .

. . . When the power of privilege is used
to refuel the wheel, newly energized turnings
enable yesterday’s subordinates to rise
into the positions of tomorrow’s titans.

. . . And, many of these appreciative people,
experienced in the circularity of circumstance,
demonstrate gratitude by spinning the spokes,
assisting others ascend
(occasionally including
their former benefactors) . . .

. . . And, therefore, as this wheel continues
whirling along highways cooperatively paved,
bless its human inhabitants who’ve abandoned
the Hogweeds of Hogwash and the toxic fallacies
they symbolize. Relegate old gargoyles to their
gutters by not voting for the drivers of drivel.
Let us learn that we all partake in the communion
of making and taking, of giving and receiving, and
lastly, let’s always remember that in life’s final tally,
we’ll all have been . . . “Makers” and “Takers!”