Today again I heard the word fascism
someone on the radio in Atlanta
talking election politics
and also something bigger
fascism
not a word to throw around
lightly and I thought
that's good
some have begun to call
a spade a spade
because as Walter Benjamin
noted back before the Second War
when the boundaries between
corporate capital and government
dissolve or stretch so thin
they seem invisible
fascism is the proper name
for what you have
and so this race in Georgia
may help decide our country's path
from here on out

Recalling that both Hitler
and Moussolini came to power
winning the majority vote
it seems if our democracy
is nothing more than free elections
the likely winners those
able to raise the most campaign funds
from corporate contributers
and billionaires with superpacs
while feeding people's fears
stoking their anger and false pride
with false promises and lies
then the American experiment is over

Tomorrow we'll know more
although it's just another step
either furthering our home-grown
brand of fascism
or affirming the republic that Republicans
used to believe in
a bit ironic
that the outcome likely lies
with the decendants of Africans
brought here in chains

Why what I'm saying is so contrary
to what half the populace
considers true
is an important question
one awaiting further answers
and of course there's
the unacknowledged elephant
this time not sitting in the room
but already on the move
I'm thinking of the climate refugees
by some counts over half a billion
by mid-century
no wonder that the world is looking
toward authoritarian leaders
strong men to build the walls
they hope will keep
those aliens our less fortunate
brothers and sisters out

This fantasy of self-sufficient isolation
will only serve to make
within our walls
domestic prisoners of us all
The poet Auden said it long ago
in the end there's only
this one choice
we must discredit what he called
the lie of authority
we must love one another
or we die