What if we approached the authoritarians
who have asserted themselves
around the world – with compassion?
Perhaps Putin suffers from Napolean
Complex – the plight of small men
and yearning for the late, great days
when he fought metaphorical rats
in dark corners with the KGB
Was he stunted by the starvation
that took his brother, is that why
he cannot have enough of everything?
He is the Strong Man, bare-chested
on horseback projecting his lost
glory days onto his country and trying
to obliterate a country that was there
when Muscovy was just a swamp
– is that what it will take
to make him feel better?
Has Trump really found a friend
who understands his needs
facilitated his election – twice
or is Putin playing him for a patsy
to suit his own purposes?
Did being born with a silver spoon
in his mouth – paid $20,000 a year
by his father, a millionaire by age eight
set impossible expectations that
made a seedbed for hubris and
underhand shortcuts in the attempt
to make the grade?
In bed with a somewhat Mafia connected Cohn
– another avuncular mentor
who gave him a love of litigation
was Trump needing more of a father’s
love than he could possibly find
in reality – is that why he turned
to reality TV and ultimately to presidency?
Post colonially
India seemed like a beacon of
spiritual inclusion, diversity and equality
with its mixture of religions
living side by side
for the most part, peacefully
but Modi promoted Nationalism
but only for Hindus, Moslems
don’t belong – old hatreds
once more resurrected
in the service of party political
power and concomitant
self-aggrandisement.
Was it being born into a background
of Other Backward Class
as his neighbourhood was classified
or serving tea to haughty strangers
on the station platform with his father
that made Modi aspire to climb so high?
What shame did he bear for denying
his marriage to become a pracharak
in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
a leg-up the social ladder
for which celibacy was a requirement?
How many people have to die in
religious pogroms to wash away
the scars of humble origin?
And in another place riven
with religious but not racial
differences, one Semitic people
try to delete another
– to take their place
by God given right, they claim
led by a man terrified to
lose it all, the power, the respect
on account of personal corruption
– the prison that awaits him if
he lets go for a moment
of the extreme nationalist narrative
that keeps his country behind him
even though they slide ever downwards
in the eyes of the world
I don’t know about Orban
or President Xi, but
what are the chances that these other
strong men have a weakness within
that drives their story?
We can react with anger, horror
disbelief, to the authoritarian
network that has overtaken
the global village of recent decades
even with all its village quarrels
and sometimes worse
it was better than this divisive
hate filled place we now find
ourselves thrust into
– but where will it get us?
What if we all wrote to
the strong men and spoke
to their hearts with
understanding
of their personal pasts
their fears and disappointments?
Would a million letters each
be enough to salve them
with a democracy of love?
© Andrew Wilson, 2025
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, sanaarizvi in OpenLinkNight, invites us to post a poem of our choice which can also be read out on the OLN live meeting on Saturday…
This poem attempts to look at current events from a slightly different angle…
Well written my friend
Thank you Sadje, I have been thiinking about it for a while…
You’re welcome
Well said, but a pipedream in the end, I’m afraid.
It perhaps offers a clue as to the type of politician we should watch out for and avoid…
I think they are mostly driven by fear, and the fallacy of investing in lost causes.
Absolutely Bjorn…
This is incredibly potent! I resonate with; “what are the chances that these other strong men have a weakness within that drives their story?
Thanks Sanaa, that is how we need to see them, as weak, not strong…
Thanks Sanaa! That is how we need to see them, as weak, not strong…
Well this was therapy for me, a real tonic…I almost needed to see those words, so well-scribed, and so factual, even when wondering.
Thank you Ain, your comment alone vindicates the writing of…
I love this piece
We can react with anger, horror
disbelief, to the authoritarian
network that has overtaken
the global village of recent decades
even with all its village quarrels
and soetimes worse
it was better than this divisive
hate filled place we now find
ourselves thrust into
It is so true that right now there is so much strife, horrors that shouldn’t be in this day and age. You have included so much!
Thanks Christine, I did my best to cover all bases…
An interesting way of looking at our current so-called world leaders, Andrew, and if only we could change them with compassion – but they have none themselves. The contrast between Putin’s and Trump’s pasts is explored so well, and I learned a lot from your poem. If only ‘a million letters each’ were enough to ‘salve them with a democracy of love’.
Thanks, Kim, its a thought experiment…
I remained glued to every word. There is no Reblog button, but I’ll find a way to share it.
Thanks so much Reena, that means a lot – let me know if you do find a way to share it…
inside the hearts and heads of men … best not to linger. 😉
No indeed Ren, but I just wanted to come at it from a different angle than shouty anger…
I appreciate your thoughtful write and insight into “strong” men’s weaknesses. Muslims and Christians are both excluded from Modi’s nationalism…it’s a dangerous world.
I hadn’t heard about the Christians and I guess Sikhs are affected too… Thanks Lynn!
What an insight into these men through a shorter form of writing than all these long psychological pieces and words like narcissist. I like the way you examine each of the leaders and some of the impacts. I guess you have more on Trump but it does make me wonder when there is democracy how perceptive voters are. We don’t usually choose the bully in the playground but know that more stable characters will be more just if voted for sports or school captain. I would often here ‘we need a strong man’ in the UK. They then chose Boris and we found he couldn’t really cope with a crisis.
Thanks Georgina, Trumps schtick in getting ewlected , was that he connected with his base emotionally. Biden did so much good but talking logically to people who are deprived doesn’t work – emotion wins every time…
What an eloquent assessment of our world politics. I love how you delve into psyche of powerful leaders and raise questions of weakness that drives them on.
A while back I wrote a poem which states that all of our heroes have feet of clay! I think that applies in your writing as well.
I would like to read that Dwight…
“What if we all wrote to the strong men and spoke to their hearts with understanding of their personal pasts their fears and disappointments? Would a million letters each be enough to salve them with a democracy of love?”
If only, Andrew. I read the last lines of your beautifully crafted poem with feelings of despair combined with something akin to hope. If only, if only.
As long as the majority of people who were to read those last lines felt as you did Helen, then there is indeed hope, for that is true humanity. Of course I know that it’s not going to happen that way but you know, I was reading a book written by a member of a group of Serbians who used non-violent means to try to bring down the dictator Slobodan Milosovic and one thing they found effective, which arises from an understanding of dictators (and their minions), was humour, they hate being laughed at – and it makes the oppressed feel stronger too – is that compassionate? I’m not sure, but it is human…
That about sums it up! Comprehensive account of the trouble we’re in …JIM
Thanks James, but what do the flawed motivations of these leaders say about the fears and selfish projections of the rest of us and why we find it so hard to do the right thing…
You’ve taken a deep dive and assessed how shallow, frightened and weak these strong men really are. There’s no amount of caring words that would change these frightful beings into something resembling human. I wonder how it is that it has all gone on this long, I felt sure there would have been some kind of surge of sanity from the congress and the public to get rid of the orange one. Then the other two would topple. We’ve been too busy wanting stuff to really see what was going on in front of our eyes I think. Wonderful poem that makes one pause to think a little deeper…Bravo!
Yes indeed Di, complacency and a disbelief that the horrors of Fascism could return all lulled by material comforts and now look where we are…
That is a question on my heart and mind too Andrew, provocative and timely.
Thanks Paul, watch out for right wing idealogues making emotional appeals in your neck of the woods…
I loved to read your assessment of Modi, Andrew. I could write reams on him but most Indians consider him a demi-god and will be baying for my blood. How have we come to a stage that we accept these megalomaniacs as our leaders.
I would have loved to listen to you read this incredibly potent write but I have been extremely busy as well as unwell since Saturday. Maybe some day I will join in OLN to listen in..
In the event I didn’t join the OLN except to briefly say hello from a beach in Northumberland just to see if it could be done though I wasn’t set up to read – too much sun and sand! I am glad you found my assessment accurate Punam – I did some research and then read between the lines or rather wrote.
I hope you are feeling better now…
It’s what is often said about bullies, that inside they’re cowards trying to get revenge for past wrongs. The time to help is when they’re children. I know the current president of the White House had a horrible family, and many have offered diagnoses from afar. I hope if locked up, he’d be treated with compassion, as there is no doubt in my mind he’s suffering from some sort of dementia.
I’m sure you are right Merril, apparently they are only making 20% of his speeches public and not transcribing them – only videos. I suspect that many people are pulling the levers of power other than Trump. It will be easier to be compassionate once he is no longer in power…