“Knife’s Edge” – Missing the rural America I grew to love

The Poem “Knife’s Edge” from Voice Actor Andy Taylor

In 2018, during the second year of the Trump administration, like so many Americans Andy Taylor was horrified, resulting in the poem “Knife’s Edge” that can be seen above or read below.

The poem does not lament the clear lack of executive leadership or appalling, criminal policy choices. Instead, the words focus on friends, neighbors and loved ones drawn-in by the president’s self-serving propaganda – fueled by fiery rhetoric, triggering language, and unabashed lies.

Sadly, many of those consumed by the wealthy narcissist’s empty words still fail to recognize that they’ve been manipulated. Perhaps these words – these truths – will offer renewed perspective.

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KNIFE’S EDGE

Me?

I’ve lived the life of trust between people in the woods
Coyotes, guns and snakes, and rusty Chevy hoods
The darkness pierced at night by a brush pile burn
Homemade wine in hand, laughing ’til the sun’s return

With blood-shot eyes we’d rise to face another day
Just thankful for the work, despite the meager pay
Rich in time and space, we’re the real billionaires
What happens on the coasts? Nobody really cares

You don’t need to tell us how to live our lives
While crafting bills for cash and cheating on your wives
Our stubborn self-reliance got us to today
We choose to live this life. It’s in our DNA

So go away…

I learned to love this life because the people are so true
Ready to defend any threat to their solitude
So imagine my surprise when deception came along
With tiny hands, thin-skin, and a tie that’s way too long

He spoke with fire and fear saying “You’re the forgotten ones!”
And those I love and trust soaked it up like a thirsty sponge
With their own words, he learned to reel them in with bait
And 2-years-in my friends were echoing his hate

What they don’t see is he is playing them for a fool
While they feel heard for once, he’s shattering their rule
…that they don’t need some tyrant governing their lives
While stoking fear for votes and telling petty lies

Whatever happened to that self-reliant song?
Did it get swallowed by some need to just belong?
See, I don’t recognize that anger in your eyes
When others stand to speak and choose to criticize

Once upon a time, we sat around a fire
Thankful for a life that most will not acquire
“Don’t tell us what to think, just leave us the hell alone!”
Well now we’re here, and it’s clear – you’ve taken a different tone

Please don’t forget that self-reliance is your truth
It clings to you like glue. It’s been there since your youth
By accepting one who leads with words as sharp a knife
You become exactly who you’ve hated all your life.