Look Out We don’t see them. But, they are there. Probably high above us, above the satellites, even above the moon. Yet, at the same time, they are right next to us, like kids in a circle over a game of marbles. You remember marbles. Anyway, how can they do this kind of magic? Easy. They are the gods, and they are having lots of fun with us right now. I can see them because I am like Homer, reincarnated. So, the gods trust me. There is Zeus over there handling the strings that control Donald Trump. He’s giving Trump the swagger of an old, wild west gunfighter. You know, like he’s got something warm and squishy in his pants. He even controls Trumps facial expressions, making him look like…wasn’t it Jack Nicholson who played the Joker in Batman? Making him grin like the Joker. So, all the gods are here in a circle, their favorite mortals dangling on strings from their fingers. And, they’re laughing hysterically, drinking red wine, eating—what is it?— ambrosia? We can’t hear them, but they’re whooping and hollering, delighted by every new lie Zeus has Trump tell, every new insult, every misrepresentation. Suddenly, Zeus has Trump making a speech to a mob of hysterically joyful yet angry, under-educated, white Trump followers and the gods are nodding to each other, happily aware of the beautiful irony about to descend upon the Trumpeters. That is, of course, those who made Trump president-elect will be brutally betrayed, especially in the areas of jobs and healthcare. Not to be outdone in the arena of brutal irony, there’s Athena informing Hillary Clinton that not only has she lost the election, but she lost it despite earning nearly three million more votes than Trump. And the gods laugh and point at the crumpled, dismayed Hillary fans. And, what just popped into my head were these last words of Robert Frost’s poem, Once By the Pacific: “There would be more than ocean water broken before God’s last put out the light was spoken.” Yeah, when the gods are having fun and you are a mortal, look out. 1/16/2017
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AuthorPrize-winning journalist and teacher of English, history and philosophy who now lives on Harstine Island, Washington, with his wife, Dee. Father of two daughters and five grandchildren, all smart and beautiful beyond description, of course. Books
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