Posted on Oct 18, 2017

Lexicon for a Tyrant

By Teddy Robertson

You may wonder why I need a phrase book

he travels to us, after all—

unbidden on the screen.

He comes with simple words,

monosyllables

from happy times with little ones

huge

great

bad

good

win

smart

weak

tough

Soon come the chants—

paroxytones of schoolyard taunts

stupid

crazy

moron

loser

And last the epithets,

engravers of memory (as bards knew well)

He tests each smear,

which slur will stick?

Little Marco, Lyin’ Ted

Crooked Hillary

Lazy Eyes

fake news—

phrases from the word-hoard of a primitive.

Stumps of language, I decry them

but I am hooked,

respond in kind,

forego his title, proper name

For all his simple words

he is complex.

He forces me to search,

patrol a larger lexicon

seek the proper word for what I see,

disordered personality—

arrogant

impulsive

volatile

capricious

puerile

disordered mind—

malformed

inchoate

distorted

rambling

deranged

I strain to choose the fit descriptor,

the truest word

confirm my understanding,

preserve what I have heard and seen.

Meantime the charlatan extends his arms,

plump fingers of his hands spread wide

then digit curls toward thumb—

a secret sign, some say

for me a seal,

the mudra of a tyrant.

Teddy Robertson

EVM contributor Teddy Robertson can be reached at teddyrob@umflint.edu.