what they can afford

a gentleness not seen in

those who feel they are large

too large to need to take turn

but able simply to bully

to get what they want

where those who are big

inside as well as out

can afford empathy

twisting stripes

poor clown, reduced to attacking only

with inuendo, accusations and raw lies,

exposes Bluffo as the shell he has made

of himself—a common bully without

substance or integrity so all his gains

are but pain to the growing numbers

of people who have not yet realized

what they have lost by giving up

their own self-worth to admire his ‘strength’

our stars and stripes twist toward

swastikas