Whiplash!: Election 2016: the Heart of Darkness

By David Stringer

Whiplash is a collection of satirical poems, reflecting on Presidential Election of 2016. These poems raise provocative questions engaging the temperament of the American people and their choice, as well as the temperament and values of Donald Trump, who was elected.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524685843

David Stringer

David Stringer is a retreat leader, lecturer, and writer. He has a BA from Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, a Masters of Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas as well as, post graduate work at Princeton University. David has lectured nationally and internationally on numerous topics, including: Poetry as an Act of Incarnation, The Poetics of Theology: Forces that Mold a Human Being, and Theopoeisis: An Eclipse of God. David’s study of world traditions, including his own experience of Christianity, offers a unique voice spoken through poetry.

Book preview

Whiplash!

Election 2016:

The Heart of Darkness

DAVID STRINGER

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© 2017 David Stringer. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/07/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5246-8585-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-8583-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-8584-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017904798

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Foreword to Whiplash!

Introduction to Whiplash!

Prologue

Being Taken…

Whiplash!

Whiplash!

Non-sequitur

Donald’s (k)id

Dear Mr. (p)Resident

Pompadour Pretender

Fires of Seduction

Parental Warning

Chipping Away

Chipping Away

Doppelganger

Guide to a Third Grader’s Lexicon

Ego Inflation

The Heart Of Darkness

The Heart of Darkness

American Carnage

Demagoguery

The Pathologizing Eye

The Duende of Donald Trump

Euphemism or Dysphemism?

Becoming Real

Old Friend

Help! Someone, please…

You are not Cinderella

Encountering Pinocchio

The Cure for Enormity

The Honest Part of Life

Stressful Conversations

Stressful Conversations

The Tinderbox

The Vote that Matters

Run Donald, Run…See Donald Run

Whine and Cheese

What Color is Democracy?

Encountering the Gods and Goddesses

The Apprentice

Arise, Demeter

Aphrodite Tutors Donald

Special Advisor to the President: Athena

Surprise

Donald Trump…Meet Dionysus

The Goddess Rhea, Post-Election

You Remind Me of Someone Else

Time in the Underworld

Divine Absence

Wildness, Wideness, and Wilderness

Epilogue

The Ghetto of Beautiful Things

About the Author

for DaAnna and Mavis

Foreword to Whiplash!

Listen not to me but to the logos that speaks through me.

Heraclitus

David Stringer and I sat many Saturday’s in Filtered, the coolest coffee shop in McKinney, Texas. David read these poems aloud to me just days into the Trump administration, deep in the heart of Republican territory.

For me, it was a time when respect for words, and their original meanings, was daily being abused. Beyond the questions about maturity, intelligence, and the mental health of our President, many of us were asking ourselves, Is this the best we humans can do? Are these really the thoughts, values, feelings, and words we can trust to lead us?

Listening to these poems not only restored my faith in words, but in humanity as well. They seeded in me what the Scots call a stout heart for a stae brae, which is a Highlands blessing translated to mean, May you have a strong heart for a steep hill, a blessing we all might keep in mind for what lies ahead. My hope is that you, the reader, will find the same kind of healing I have found in the hearing of these poems.

Before you read these poems, allow me to describe our poet, David Stringer.

David is the type of friend and kindred spirit you meet late in life. David has experienced many things most of us dream about in our youth. He has played