Here is a poem inspired by the recent wave of removing Confederate and Colonial statues. It is also inspired by Genesis Rabbah 38 and Psalm 115. This is a new means of expression for me. (If you have been following along you know that I am fond of the rant, the op-ed, and the occasional sermon or exegesis). So, your honest feedback on this is welcome.
To the Idol Smashers
(inspired by Black Lives Matter, Genesis Rabbah 38 and Psalm 115)
Demolish the Confederate statues
Like they smashed the stone Hitlers and iron Stalins,
Tear down Cecil Rhodes and King Leopold
callous authors of so many deaths.
Swing the axes, pound the hammers
and pull the ropes.
Then
amid the sudden quiet,
the ruble and the dust,
ask about statues.
What single human is worthy of being a sacred image
the instantiated entwining of triumph and loss
that consecrates a public space
where we behold
and gather
and cry together
and mourn quietly alone
and when the wounds are less raw,
where we picnic,
gaze up and dream?
What hero of today will not tarnish in the slow, harsh rain of history?
Do we need new idols made by human hands?
Let the giant bronze horse in the park arch its freshly bared back.
Let it remain riderless.
The true memorial of F.D.R. is not his polished likeness by the fireside.
It is five hungry men lining up for bread.
Let us build monuments
to all the soldiers, not a lone general
to all the lunch counter sitters and bus riders, not one holy man
to the Chinese men who built our railroads, not the robber-baron who exploited them.
The statues of
nameless Liberty
The Unknown Soldier,
Dachu’s Defiant Inmate,
two women together and two men together openly in a park,
the spirit talker whispering into his radio,
Edwardian ladies with banners in handcuffs,
peacekeepers with heavy packs,
six men raising a flag,
and students on bicycles facing tanks
are holy
not because we must crane our necks to gaze upon them,
but because their stone eyes meet ours directly
and with carved arms they beckon us
to come and take our place amongst them.
Rainbow Tallit Baby 
Hi Aurora, I really like your new style. You can sometimes convince people more with poetry than with a rant. You also have a talent for it.
However: If you are going to attribute things to people you need to check your sources before you write. “Five hungry men lining up for bread” is not an appropriate memorial for FDR . While it reads well on a page it is simply not true! FDR inherited the economic situation of the Great Depression from Pres. Herbert Hoover, he did not create it. Showing men on a bread line makes it look like he did. What he did do was turn it around by creating programs such as Social Security in 1935. He also put people back to work by instituting the New Deal and the WPA. The latter was a public works program that built roads, dams, airports, highways and much more. It even employed artists like myself to create what we would call today “public art.” In other words he put people back to work. That is his his legacy!
As far as I know there are no public monuments to Herbert Hoover, not even a bread line, because when you say his name you associate one thing with it, the Great Depression, something people would prefer to forget, even though we need to remember it, so we can avoid a repetition.
Sandra
Hi Sandra,
All of the statues I mention are real statues. The memorial to FDR in Washington DC has a statue of him doing a fireside chat and a statue of men in a bread line precisely because his greatest achievement was helping them. It never occurred to me that people would think it meant FDR caused the Depression. Also I know all about the WPA and the rest of his legacy. I agree Hoover shouldn’t get a memorial ! Thanks for you frank and thoughtful feedback. It is great to have someone engage with what I write.
Hi Aurora, I loved the poem. I resonate with so many of the images and sentiments expressed, and wonder what an equivalent Canadian-inflected reflection might include. I think in the 11th line of the poem you mean to ask “What single human is worthy of being a SACRED image…” I just discovered your blog, and look forward to reading more of your writing and perhaps even having some conversations about it some day.
Geoff