The Punchline
A reprise of another anthem that all America has come to adore singing
Anonymous masked patriots who hate the sound of Spanish
Descend on sleeping barrios and make its elders vanish
Foreign aid is slashed and concentration camps erected
Behold with shame, America, the monster we elected
America is burning down.
How thick and black the smoke!
I’ve stlll got the punchline but I can’t recall the joke
The fruit is rotting in the fields. The pickers all have.hidden
The TV networks toe the line. Dissent is now forbidden
The poor are being compelled to be more generous with the rich
The monster merrily unveils his latest bait-and-switch
The cowards in the House and Senate do as they’re commanded
The monster simply snickers even when he’s caught red-handed
He cheats at golf. He cheats at life. His wife’s thought to detest him
and every day we hope to God that someone will arrest him
No sound delights the monster more than that of desperate pleading
He finds no less than beautiful the sight of brown folk bleeding
He stuffs himself with junk food, asks which sadist to anoint
The cruelty’s no accident. The cruelty’s the point
Featuring Darryll du Toit on guitar. ©2026 John Mendelsohn. All rights reserved.
Dangle
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