We are all so sick of the constant stream of attack ads (interrupting the attack game we love to watch – football!). But this year we seem to have sunk to a new low in terms of how vile and false the ads are – with both major parties skewering the opposing candidates. What if the billions of dollars that are spent on election advertising could be repurposed to providing quality food, housing, or health care to those in our society who work hard but can’t get to a sustainable existence in American society? Instead, the money goes to cultivating hate. It wasn’t always like this. I can remember when the leaders of Congress from different political parties went to lunch, socialized, and developed legislation that was the result of compromise and a desire to help all the American people. I get a sense that people of all political affiliations are growing tired of the angry rhetoric, hate speech, the emotional overload that has become the norm. Maybe, just maybe, we can turn this ill wind into a more gentle breeze. I wrote this poem around the time of the last election and found it hidden in a folder. Now seemed like a good time to share it.
Inferno
all around us
the evil, the sin
everyone in the pool
come on, jump in!
take umbrage, attack
shout louder than them;
close tightly your ears
taste the bile and the phlegm
did our ancestors will us this,
this our inevitable fate;
to sink with our virtual gods and our genes
into a bubbling cauldron of hate?
Brian J. Zink November 1, 2026
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