When the Fascists Come
When the Fascists Come
When the fascists come
I will be sad and afraid
I will gather my dolls together
And tell them not to be sad and afraid
But really I will be sad and afraid
And I will be angry and I will be sad
And I will be worried and I will wonder
If there is something I’m supposed to do
Or if I should try to be very still and quiet
I will wonder if there is a way to be safe
But be very concerned that there isn’t
I will think that no one is safe
But I won’t tell my dolls
Because I don’t want them upset
When the fascists come
I will wonder if it’s as bad as it seems
I will doubt my perceptions
I will wonder if I’m overreacting
I will wonder if it’s just me
I will go to the bar while I can still go to the bar
And talk to my friends and talk to strangers
And say that I do not like what’s going on
The fascists are not nice and they’re making a big mess
And people are getting hurt and people are scared
And I will try to find the people who agree with me
And see what is happening the way I do
And we will be there for each other in that moment
And there is value in that and we will say,
What can we say? What can we do?
I will talk to my sister and we will both say,
This is not good for anybody
And we will say we don’t know what to do
Or where to go to be safe
When the fascists come
They won’t call themselves fascists
They will say, We are here to save the day
To make your city safe
To chase away the bad people and make them go away
So there will be only the good people in the city
But I will wonder how they distinguish bad from good
How can they tell? How can they judge?
And I will think the whole premise
Of there being bad people and good people
Is total bullshit
We are all just people doing the best we can
In the very specific circumstances, times, and places
We find ourselves in, due to no fault or choice of our own
I will hug my dolls and try not to let them know how upset I am
But they will know and they will be sad for all the people too
I will say I hate the government
I will say no one should ever have that much power
To terrorize people who are just going about their daily lives
I will say government is violence
I will say the president is a terrorist
I will say the president is sick
And should take a bath and eat some cookies and go to sleep
And my dolls will agree with me
But some people won’t agree with me
They will think the government is good
And will solve all the problems
They will think that the president is a good man
And that we should listen to him and he will do what is best
And he will take care of us
So we can all sleep soundly in our beds
And in our graves
And when we are ashes scattered in the wind
I will feel alone and angry and misunderstood
And mad at everybody
Except for my dolls