The Barbarians Have Arrived: Who Will We Blame Now?

The Barbarians Have Arrived

What are we waiting for,
gathered in the ruins of the post-war order?
The barbarians have arrived.

Why do the senators sit silent,
refusing to legislate?
Because the people bayed
for a strongman leader.

Now the law is what
the “little father” drafts himself:
red ink for the poor,
black ink for the rich.

He’s never held a sword,
yet commands the strongest army.
A strategist, not a fighter,
his battles waged in tweets and subpoenas.
Because the barbarians adore a strongman
who weakens the strong.

Why did the people cheer his policies
as their Medicaid burned?
Because the barbarians sold them smoke
and called it a sunrise.

Why does the press
still print his lies in bold?
Because the barbarians need folklore,
and every promise is new scripture.

Then why do you look away?
SNAP card cut in half,
your insulin priced like a Cadillac.
Because the people craved a villain
cut from their own flesh,
who looked less like your neighbor.

Now those who howled about frontiers
are the ones hiding in them.
And Jeffrey Epstein.
“You still talking about that creep?
That is unbelievable.”

Now what fills the silence?
No more enemies. No more bread.
Now who will you call “barbarian”
when the barbarians are you?

Another Poem by Skendong: America’s Struggles Unveiled