Trolling

Out of the cracks in the woodwork they pour

like cockroaches from the slums they come,

garbage feeders swarming the newspaper headlines.

Unable to separate sweetness from stench,

they invade everywhere, from swanky penthouse

to cottage, to poorest tenement, no discrimination.

They leave a track of dirt and distraction,

their words, twisted lies and destruction,

while trying to control the court of public opinion.

For most, just a sour taste on the tongue;

for some, becoming a festering infection,

‘blind eyes’ and ‘deaf ears’ two of the symptoms.

Tired of living in the wake of lies that compromise

our very existence.  Can a single dung beetle

be so powerful as to be above the law,

stuck in a track of deny and deflect, rejecting

common sense while his pile of shit gets bigger each day?

While sentinels and drones control his feed

we await the exterminators, those with the means

and determination to destroy this infestation…

Not an easy task, examining every crack

in the plaster, under each floorboard,

following pipelines for hidden trails,

leaving neither tile unexamined nor path ignored.

In a time of instant gratification it is a slow and tedious job…

too slow at times, but we need it done right:

no question unasked, no stone unturned,

as they take this affliction to task

Let the cockroach have the penthouse

let him troll through the night,

while others work to destroy this blight;

yet in doing so we must acknowledge it for what it is:

   a sad scar, a deep mar on our democracy,

        and a hard and very difficult lesson learned.

©Ginny Brannan 2018

"Some days you eat the bear, somedays the bear eats you." Feeling "consumed" by the constant barrage of Twitter-speak, lies and innuendo. Can't seem to get away, so attempting to write my way through once again.