American Vernacular (A poem)

Collective behavior

can damn the innocent.

A phrase so pervasive,

so persuasive,

permeating our

colloquial speech.

First, there are the “woke people:

Virtue signaling!

Co-opting our speech,

our values, our customs.

Displaying just how

“unwoke,”  they really are.

Before we saw it

they proved it.

Who will the “cancel culture”

Attack now?

Are there any heroes left?

The statues rode off in the night,

taking their side of history with them.

Team mascots were tossed,

 along with proper nouns,

street names,

school names,

even town names.

Is being left, right now?

Is right politically correct?

Who’s left behind?

Is my face mask an affront

to your personal liberty?


Am I being sexist?

ageist?

racist?

or prejudice?

Finally, the most puzzling expression of all,

is one that I take personally.

It’s the label, “Karen.”

A Karen describes a

privileged, entitled,

demanding, obnoxious,

white, middle-aged woman.

Tell me how

an innocuous name

became the quintessential pejorative-

Slang label for the angry,

 repackaged “soccer mom.”

The current Karen meme

Is an affront to the traditional

meaning of the name

It’s accidental irony

Sanctimonious morality

Insulting all 1,111,739 American Karens.

It’s rude,

Offensive,

just to show how culturally elite you are.

The original meaning of the name in

Greek is purity

Japanese means water lily

Danish means wholesome.

Opposite of this current

Snarky fad.

I call on everyone

To educate yourselves

And learn to communicate better.

Explain ideas in coherent sentences

Not a label.

Not a quick tweet.

Enlighten yourself.

Learn.

Learn to be respectful.
Learn to be kind.
Learn to be knowledgeable.

Be Blessed for hungering and
thirsting for righteousness.

Learn.