How to Survive—New Murfin Verse

Well it’s been a week since Election Day.  My Facebook has been flooded with disbelief, anguish, depression, anger, terror, blame, shame, defiance, vow of resistance, plots and schemes.  All undergirded by a profound melancholy that is not just going away.  There is no Band-Aid or balm for the boo-boo on our souls.

Now come the head shrinkers, the touchy-feely two bit New Age philosophers, and well-meaning relatives with Hallmark hearts.  They are, every damned one of them there to help and heal you. 

And now come the pop advice peddlers in the newspapers and other media.  Don’t worry, they say, the sun will rise and shine.  Go about your lives.  No matter what happens it will not fall on you.  It’s just politics and you will be just fine.

Good advice, I suppose, unless you are one of the others or your messy life is somehow tainted  and entwined with them….

How to Survive

Post-Election 2016

Head down, eyes locked forward,

            ears plugged, nose pinched,

            one foot put down before the other

            along the painted line.

Cancel the newspaper, avoid the news,

            purge the Facebook and Twitter,

            block the malcontents.

Hum quietly to yourself

            but be careful of the tune,

            speak only of the weather, sports, and sitcoms.

Go to work, go shopping, go to the game,

            go about your life,

            mind your business

            as if nothing had happened.

Ignore the strange smoke

            from that chimney over there.

Be a Good American.

—Patrick Murfin