January 6th a Poem, the beginning of the end
When I wrote this poem, I did so, and read it in an effort to persuade people to vote against Donald Trump in the November 2024 Presidential Election. I believed that if Trump was elected, that it would be the end of democracy and America as we all knew it. In many ways that holds true. When he was elected, I declared that I was quitting floristry and was going to put my time focus and talents towards writing Democratic Political Speeches that would pursued my fellow countrymen to seek truth, liberty, and justice. It was the beginning of when I started really paying attention. It was the beginning of when I started to realize we were all being lied to by the Democratic Party. When Jake Tapper’s book “Original Sin” came out, I read it, and upon completion, officially quit the Democratic Party. I’m an Independent. Always have been at heart, and always will be.
What the TRUTH about January 6th really is, I don’t think we will ever know. Do I believe President Trump’s words to have been incendiary and violence inspiring, yes, I do. I watched them live. I watched in shock and disbelief at what was coming out of his mouth. But, he did not join the rioters at the capital, and it is unclear what role the FBI and instigaters played in the treasonous siege of the Capital.
Regardless of what the TRUTH is, and what the reality vs perception is, for those employees, civil servants, and law enforcement, the TRAUMA was real and is lasting.
My X husband was there that day. At the time he was a humble picture framer working under the lead of the Sargent in Arms. He was told to hide under his desk, he was told that they would let him know when it was safe. They did not. After dark when they were finally clearing his building, Capital Police burst in and put an AK in his face. They made him run out of the building like he was a running for his life.
That day changed him. It changed me. It changed us.
As I read this poem back after not having looked at it for over a year, I realize how selfish I come across, but I am not a care giver. I am not nurturing and have my own care-related-trauma. Maybe if I could have been different, things would have been different. But I can’t and I wasn’t, and I do my very best.
January 6th, A Poem
January 6th ruined my life.
Who do I hold accountable?
I remember that day
I was at home and
I actually watched the speech
Have you seen the speech?
Have you watched the speech?
It is absolutely incredible
Truly
I watched as the President of
The United States of America
Literally told people
That if they like
that
He thinks
Its ok
To go
Ahead
And mosey
On down
To
The
Capital
And that he would try to
Join them there later
Seriously!?!
What the actual
Fuck
I watched in
real time
Events unfolding
So perhaps
This is the part of the story
Where you are wondering . . .
So, how did that ruin your life?
A bit dramatic no?
No,
ACTUALLY nope.
You see, my husband was at the capital that day.
My husband is a picture framer for the
United States Senate
And because people always ask,
My husband is the person who frames all of the
Official
“Business art” for all of the
US Senators and committees of import
Maybe you have watched the inauguration?
Do you remember the part where all the
Fancy
Important
Powerful people
Congratulate themselves at an after inauguration lunch?
And at that lunch they present a big 3ft x 4ft ish photograph of the president being sworn in?
That is what my husband does.
Obama, Trump 45, Biden, Trump 47
And for the inaugural framing, they actually send several Capitol Police to physical watch him assemble and frame that official photograph.
He is part of history, part of the fabric of this country,
Ok, so now you know what my husband does.
He is a blue collar worker that wears a rough fabricked
“Frame shop” shirt and green apron.
Wood, Glass, Paper and Nails are his medium.
He has learned how to fold any sized
American Flag
With
HONOR
And
Percision.
He is a Patriot.
So, it came to be that on
January 6th, he was at work.
I was on my beige corduroy couch.
The couch we bought together, our first piece of furniture that cost several thousand dollars.
I was watching, and he was watching from the small frame shop television.
What time was that?
I don’t remember, but it was still light out.
January light, cold, sharp.
Traitors who thought they were righteous rebels stormed the capital.
You know what they did.
You know most were never held accountable .
These people ruined my life.
These righteous rebels broke my husband.
You see, I am steel.
I was forged in a childhood hell, but my husband
But my husband
Is a marshmallow (all due respect)
That was why it worked.
He took care of me.
That was what he did best, and that was the only thing I needed from him.
Care.
But on January 6th, 2021, he stopped.
On January 6th, he was traumatized
Left for dead
Unappreciated
And he broke.
If I wasn’t me, I would have broken too.
See my husband was not
“Important”
He is not rich, he is not powerful.
And so on January 6th, my husband was disposable
He was left behind
When he phoned to ask what he should do,
His superiors told him to
Lock the door and hide under his desk.
My husband is a rule followers,
Remember
Opposites attract
And so when G told him to get under his desk and stay there,
He did
Under his desk and scared out of his mind
He waited.
He waited for someone to tell him it was safe
He waited for someone to tell him it was over
He waited for someone to tell him he could go home
No one ever did
No one ever phoned
No one ever went to get my husband
No one ever told him that he mattered
No one ever told him it was safe to come out from under his desk.
I called him intermittently.
I didn’t tell our son when I picked him up from school.
It wasn’t until it was dark
After 7:30pm in January.
When a Capital Security Guard was clearing the building that they discovered him.
He had been hiding for hours
Scared and alone
Only the quiet sound of the hysterical TV broadcasts for information
He did not have companions or cohorts
I hate everyone who left him, and everyone who inspired the siege.
I hate everyone who is responsible for January 6th
Everyone who is responsible for breaking my husband
For ruining our family
Because
You see
My husband was never quite the same after.
That was the day he stopped taking care of me
He was traumstized and he was ruined and nobody cared.
Still, the Senate does not care
When the Capital Security found him, they thought he was an insurgent
When security found him, they pointed an automatic riffel in my
Sweet marshmallow’s face.
They made him show his badge .
He was still wearing his frame shop uniform and smock.
They made my marshmallow run, like he was being hunted through the halls and out of the building.
The police with their guns were running too.
No one ever said
Sorry.
They didn’t fucking care.
All part of the job.
Never admit liability.
He wasn’t important anyway.
They still don’t care.
Essential and expendable.
Disposable.
Just another cog.
Like all of us commoners.
My husband arrived home after dark.
January Dark
Did he go to work the next day?
I don’t remember
If he didn’t go on the 7th, he went on the 8th.
Back through those same halls he had to run through.
Back to that same desk he hid under.
Back to the same security that pointed their weapons at him.
He had a few private therapy sessions that we paid for.
I thought he was fine.
He thought he was fine.
We thought we were fine.
But that was the day he stopped taking care of me.
That was the day his life changed.
That was the day he no longer felt safe going to work.
That was the day my life changed.
The day our son’s life changed.
That was the day our marriage ended,
January 6th, 2021