A Poem: Dictator’s ABC

No one was born a dictator,

Not even Kim Jung Un.

It takes a lot of time, money, planning,

the so-called neutrality, and appeasement.

Dictatorship takes 3 steps — all of them.

Step 1

Dictators welcome democracy and freedom too.

They design banners, put them on the walls,

paint them on the streets, shout them in the air.

But no one shall touch them — democracy and freedom in the definitions of the dictators.

Step 2

Dictators redefine democracy and freedom.

They erase history marks, rewrite history books,

and ban the word “history”, finally.

They tell you democracy and freedom are no good — they don’t suit you.

Step 3

Dictators finish reconstruction of a whole new world —

fake and beautiful.

They warn you democracy and freedom are bad, dangerous and eveil.

They ban the words “democracy and freedom”, totally.

They forbid mentioning of Step 1 by anybody.

Dictatorship was not built in a day,

like Rome, Tofu, and the Tower of Babel.

It takes a lot of time, money, planning,

and more important —

the participation of all of you and me.