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About this Poem
“I’m sure it’s obvious, but this poem was my venting at the kind of lack of agency I felt in the first few months of the Trump presidency. I found myself endlessly nervous and also terrible at actually focusing on any task.”
—Magdalena Zurawski

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For the Republic
Magdalena Zurawski

The way I’m strapped into myself
I can’t escape. Wake up and be a better person! Clip your toenails,
and by sun-rise make sure
you’re sitting at the table reading Arendt.

With a little focus
I could become
everything I ever wished
to be: level-headed and
buoyed,
a real (wo)man of conviction. But no, at night,
I’m like an old towel on the line, tossing and
turning in the wind of the dear leader’s
words. What does
it matter, if I grind
my teeth for the old ladies of
Puerto Rico? Or take a knee
in the front yard every time I hear
the national anthem
in my head? The neighbor just thinks
I’m weeding and waves.
Copyright © 2018 by Magdalena Zurawski. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 21, 2018, by the Academy of American Poets.

Magdalena Zurawski
Magdalena Zurawski
Magdalena Zurawski is the author of Companion Animal (Litmus Press, 2015).

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A Fold of Sun
Magdalena Zurawski
2016
We decided I
should go alone
on foot. I

would find
him in
the pharmacy. If

he said ‘In
the head of
God all propositions

have existed
always,’ we would make
the exchange.

He was standing
in front

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KidsOut World Stories Teachers 1 Teachers 2 HomeAbout UsStoriesYour WorldTeachers & Families Donate World Stories Want to read more or download the MP3 or access resources and lesson plans? Then click below to be taken to the new ALWAYS FREE worldstories.co.uk website Register Here The Brothers Who Met Poverty English Polish Find out more about the contributors The Brothers Who Met Poverty A Polish Story by Aleksandra-Dokurno Once upon a time, in a faraway village by a great river, there lived two brothers named Antek and Jonek. Jonek was a kind hearted and patient man, always eager to help others, and it was with gratitude that he took over the running of his parents’ farm once they had become too old to care for the animals. Jonek was a successful farmer and soon married a beautiful woman who was as gentle and hardworking as he. Antek helped his brother at the beginning, but he soon tired of farming and moved on from one job to another, first becoming a carpenter’s apprentice, then a baker’s assistant, and then a blacksmith’s assistant. Being a lazy man, Antek was unable to stay in any one job and would always move on when the work became too hard or tiresome. Finally he settled down and married the daughter of a very rich widow and lived a comfortable and luxurious life which required very little work. Jonek, despite being a diligent and compassionate man, had no such luck. He toiled in the fields but his crops did not yield very much come harvest time. The wheat that did grow was soon beaten down by angry storms and merciless winds, and his cattle were plagued by disease and hunger. His wife fell ill, and just as she began to recover, four of his children were struck down by yellow fever. When he finally ran out of money, Jonek was forced to pay a visit to his heartless brother. ‘Antek, lend me some money,’ pleaded Jonek. ‘My beloved children are ill, my horse is dying, and my ox is lame. I cannot work, and we are so hungry.’ ‘Alright, but you must pay me back what you owe and more,’ replied Antek with a smug grin on his face. Jonek was saddened by his brother’s lack of goodwill, but he had no choice but to borrow the money despite such unreasonable demands. Jonek borrowed and borrowed from his brother, and Antek let this happen, believing that one day he would be able to take over the family farm and reap the rewards. It was not too long before the mean brother got his wish. Jonek fell behind in his payments and was unable to continue the upkeep of the farm. Eventually he was forced to search for a new home. Antek was a very mean fellow and began to move all of his possessions into the farm before Jonek and his family had even had a chance to move out. Despite his terrible run of bad luck, Jonek remained positive. He told his wife: ‘There is a small house at the very edge of the village where a shepherd once lived. We can just about manage to live in such a place.’ Although he was determined to remain optimistic, Jonek wept as he bid farewell to his childhood home. He left the farm with his wife and seven children. They carried their humble possessions on their backs and made their way towards their new home. Antek was so mean that he even refused to lend them his cart for the journey. Jonek sold his remaining cattle for less than half what they were worth and tried his best to settle into the little house on the edge of the village. His wife and children tended a small vegetable patch in the modest garden, while Jonek took on various odd jobs around the village. The family spent many years living an impoverished life, all the time wary of the wolves who roamed in the forest, all the time hungry for food or in need of extra money to buy clothes or medicines. During those hard years, Antek, the mean hearted brother, became the wealthiest man in the county, but never once did he offer to help his poor brother. One day, as Antek was hosting a lavish wedding for his eldest daughter, Jonek decided to visit the church to pray for help. In the church he saw his brother and his family – all sitting in the front row, all dressed in extravagant silks and furs and smooth leather boots, while poor Jonek remained at the back of the church: a cold and hungry figure hiding in the shadows. Once the ceremony had come to an end, Jonek followed the wedding procession towards his old family home. He stayed in the background where he would not be seen, tears filling his eyes, overcome with grief at all that he had lost. When he reached the farmhouse, he stood hunched in the doorway and pleaded with his brother. ‘Brother,’ he whispered, ‘God be with you. I am famished. My wife and children are starving. Take a moment from your festivities to help us, please.’ We don’t help idle creaturesUpon seeing his poor brother, Antek growled: ‘I do not help idle creatures.’ And with that he grabbed a bone with barely a few scraps of meat on it and thrust the feeble offering into his brother’s hands. Jonek was overcome with despair and anger at how his own brother could treat him so callously. He took the bone and ran from the farm into the cold, dark night. It was not long before Jonek found himself on the bank of the river. A strange voice inside his head whispered: ‘Why must you suffer so? Jump in, jump in. The water is deep. You can finish this.’ But Jonek knew that he could not leave his family to fend for themselves. He slumped down onto the damp grass and began to… Read more »

Sections The Washington Post Democracy Dies in Darkness Try 1 month for $1 Sign In Share on Google Plus Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google Plus Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Tumblr Resize Text Print Article Comments2 The Americas Would-be governor ‘El Bronco’ has a word for Mexico’s political parties The independent candidate for governor in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, Jaime Rodríguez, center, known as “El Bronco,” speaks during a recent rally in Zuazua, near Monterrey. (Hans-Maximo Musielik) By Joshua Partlow and Gabriela Martinez May 26, 2015 MONTERREY, Mexico — The Bronco Bus pulled into the slum on the outskirts of town, and Mexico’s most curious candidate took the stage in front of a flashing neon-green horse head. Jaime Rodríguez, a.k.a. “El Bronco,” a 57-year-old former mayor and alfalfa farmer, wants to be governor of the border state of Nuevo Leon, a major economic hub and home to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico. His profane, man-of-the-people persona has made him an unlikely front-runner in next month’s midterm elections. But the main reason his candidacy has captured so much attention is that he has succeeded without the help of Mexico’s powerful political parties, choosing instead to run as an independent. “There’s no park around here where your kids can play. There’s no hospital. The transportation is totally f—ed. All the streets are destroyed,” he told the cheering crowd. “But the mayor lives in a mansion and screws you guys.” “This is how the government works, and we have to change this,” he said. Just a few years ago, such an insurgent candidacy was not even possible. A constitutional change in 2012 allowed candidates to run as independents in Mexico, a major shift for a country that has been governed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for most of the past century. Many people say it is no coincidence that an independent is leading in some polls in a key state at a time when corruption scandals have rocked the national government and many people are searching for alternatives. Rodríguez’s run for governor has helped show that “with this crisis of governance, and with these high corruption levels, [independents] can win elections,” said Raúl Benítez Manaut, a political analyst and professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. “Without a doubt, this is a lesson for the PRI.” ‘God allowed me to live’ Initially, Rodríguez gained fame in his state primarily by staying alive. During his time as mayor of the suburb of Garcia, from 2009 to 2012, drug-war violence transformed the Monterrey area from an industrial metropolis known for its wealth into one of the country’s deadliest urban centers. After Rodríguez was elected, his 22-year-old son — one of his six children — was abducted and killed. Rodríguez said his 2-year-old daughter was also briefly kidnapped. He was one of numerous municipal officials in Mexico targeted by traffickers; he survived at least two assassination attempts, including one in which he said gunmen riddled his car with bullets. “I’m a survivor of the violence in this country,” he said in an interview last week. “But I’m not proud of this. It embarrasses me. I wish it had never happened. I’m not a hero. Simply, God allowed me to live.” Rodríguez is just the most high-profile of many independent candidates running in municipal and state elections across Mexico. Political observers say most have only a slim chance of winning. They do not have the get-out-the-vote machinery of party candidates, and some have complained about restrictive fundraising rules. “It’s extremely difficult,” said Sergio Aguayo, a political analyst and professor at the Colegio de Mexico. “It’s a path for dreamers and the desperate.” Jose Antonio Crespo, a political scientist with the Center for Research and Teaching of Economics in Mexico City, said: “People don’t have the same confidence in an independent candidate who doesn’t have the backing of a political party. We don’t know the independents that well. People in Mexico vote in general for the brand of the party.” In recent decades, Mexican politics has been dominated by three parties: the PRI, the conservative National Action Party (PAN) and the left-of-center Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD). But El Bronco’s run has people talking about the prospect of a serious independent candidate in the next presidential election. Rodríguez’s campaign started small, in living rooms, at weddings and at birthday parties for 15-year-olds, called quinceañeras. The candidate addressed “anyone who would see us,” as one aide put it. Since collecting more than the 100,000 signatures necessary to put a candidate on the ballot, Rodríguez’s team of about a dozen staff members has expanded to include several thousand volunteers. Last week, one of his main challengers, Fernando Elizondo Barragán, a former interim governor of Nuevo Leon who also served as energy secretary under President Vicente Fox of the conservative PAN, dropped out of the race and announced his alliance with Rodríguez. El Bronco’s most formidable opponent now is the PRI candidate, Ivonne Álvarez, a senator. A rebel’s establishment ties Rodríguez is not exactly an outsider to Mexican politics. For three decades, he was a member of the PRI, holding various positions in local government. It was only last year that he decided to break from the party and set out as an independent. In a letter of resignation to a party official, he said that he wanted to “unite myself with millions of Mexicans who have reached the end of their patience” and to “demand change to the old ways of politics.” His opponents have cast him as an establishment candidate in rebel clothing, all bluster and no substance. During a debate last week, a candidate from a minor party, Jose Maria Elizondo, mocked him for thinking that three decades of party membership could be “purified” in eight months. “That’s not right,” Elizondo said. “There is a great worry over what your government could be.” Rodríguez is happy to fashion his image as distinct from the… Read more »