The Nazi Within
It took me more than a year, but I finished up Garrison Keillor's poetry anthology Good Poems late in 2015. I'm now working my way through the last of his three poetry anthologies, Good Poems: American Places.
As I read through Good Poems, I marked poems that particularly moved me when I read them. Now that I've finished the book, some of those still appeal to me greatly. For others, I read them and wonder what I saw in them the day I first encountered them. The poem that stuck in my head the most was one I didn't even mark, but had a remarkably sticky line in it: The Nazi within me.
As it happens, today 1em posted a link to an article that argued that the main thing Donald Trump's supporters had in common was authoritarian inclinations, something that occurs across the political spectrum. A lot of people seem to want to be told what to do, or perhaps more accurately want someone to tell people they don't like what to do.
Leaving aside the political merits (or lack thereof) of billionaire reality television stars, I understand the appeal. I've officially been in this new role at work for just over two months now, and there's an overwhelming desire to pick people up and shake them and say "why aren't you doing this obvious thing?" Obviously, that would be counter-productive, as would having an authoritarian president of the United States.
In that spirit, here's the poem.
Confession
by Stephen Dobyns
The Nazi within me thinks it's time to take charge.
The world's a mess; people are crazy.
The Nazi within me wants windows shut tight,
new locks put on the doors. There's too much
fresh air, too much coming and going.
The Nazi within me wants more respect. He wants
the only TV camera, the only bank account,
the only really pretty girl. The Nazi within me
wants to be boss of traffic and traffic lights.
People drive too fast; they take up too much space.
The Nazi within me thinks people are getting away
with murder. He wants to be the boss of murder.
He wants to be boss of bananas, boss of white bread.
The Nazi within me wants uniforms for everyone.
He wants them to wash their hands, sit up straight,
pay strict attention. He wants to make certain
they say yes when he says yes, no when he says no.
He imagines everybody sitting in straight chairs,
people all over the world sitting in straight chairs.
Are you ready? he asks them. They say they are ready.
Are you ready to be happy? he asks them. They say
they are ready to be happy. The Nazi within me wants
everyone to be happy but not too happy and definitely
not noisy. No singing, no dancing, no carrying on.
As I read through Good Poems, I marked poems that particularly moved me when I read them. Now that I've finished the book, some of those still appeal to me greatly. For others, I read them and wonder what I saw in them the day I first encountered them. The poem that stuck in my head the most was one I didn't even mark, but had a remarkably sticky line in it: The Nazi within me.
As it happens, today 1em posted a link to an article that argued that the main thing Donald Trump's supporters had in common was authoritarian inclinations, something that occurs across the political spectrum. A lot of people seem to want to be told what to do, or perhaps more accurately want someone to tell people they don't like what to do.
Leaving aside the political merits (or lack thereof) of billionaire reality television stars, I understand the appeal. I've officially been in this new role at work for just over two months now, and there's an overwhelming desire to pick people up and shake them and say "why aren't you doing this obvious thing?" Obviously, that would be counter-productive, as would having an authoritarian president of the United States.
In that spirit, here's the poem.
Confession
by Stephen Dobyns
The Nazi within me thinks it's time to take charge.
The world's a mess; people are crazy.
The Nazi within me wants windows shut tight,
new locks put on the doors. There's too much
fresh air, too much coming and going.
The Nazi within me wants more respect. He wants
the only TV camera, the only bank account,
the only really pretty girl. The Nazi within me
wants to be boss of traffic and traffic lights.
People drive too fast; they take up too much space.
The Nazi within me thinks people are getting away
with murder. He wants to be the boss of murder.
He wants to be boss of bananas, boss of white bread.
The Nazi within me wants uniforms for everyone.
He wants them to wash their hands, sit up straight,
pay strict attention. He wants to make certain
they say yes when he says yes, no when he says no.
He imagines everybody sitting in straight chairs,
people all over the world sitting in straight chairs.
Are you ready? he asks them. They say they are ready.
Are you ready to be happy? he asks them. They say
they are ready to be happy. The Nazi within me wants
everyone to be happy but not too happy and definitely
not noisy. No singing, no dancing, no carrying on.