If democracy is just the rock
like Sysiphos we try to block
it balanced on the mountain-top
We require strength to make it stop
from rolling deep into the fate
with demagogues and potentates
So once again we have to choose
with input from the biased news
twixt xenophobic ideology
and the Russian ethnology
To stay between Sloboda
and Mr Putin’s drastic coda
Drawing is not my strong side
Today at dVerse MTB we do poetic journalism, and I will be tending the bar. The form is typical in Nordic newspaper and are short, often rhymed verses that comment on the News often accompanied by a drawing. Tools like humor and irony are importantant ingredients.
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April 24, 2014
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Good poem and viewpoint, Bjorn.
Thank you.. I hoped to use a simplistic voice to make the point come through
Delicate balance indeed! I like your poem 🙂 Also, you draw better than me, Bjorn!
Ha.. thank you… 🙂
Great poem, Bjorn – quite a scary issue, but your use of rhyme & the drawing gives it some innocence. There is the balance, for me. Really well done.
Exactly the point I wanted to make – glad it came through.
definitely a delicate balance, especially if you are the one atop the mountain.
It might go either way.. And to really make it work we have to respect everyone.. It doesn’t help to build a higher mountain either…
ah, and what is democracy….ha….in america we have a representative democracy
that is supposed to be reflective of the people but i would argue more so
of their corporate sponsors…smiles.it is a delicate balance…nice approach in this bjorn
Buying votes in different ways occur in all democracies .. Replacing news with marketing happens all too often
Oh what fun for MTB today, brother; we need to find levity & lightness in the midst of dirges, deaths, drownings, plane crashes, civil wars, saber rattling; really enjoyed this prompt; thanks.
The biases of the news agencies does make it a challenge to know what is really going on in pretty much any current event…of course, my own bias sometimes colours the way I interpret the news too…
I think the news are hard to trust any longer…
I guess we are so used to Democracy in the western world that we forget how recent and fragile it is. Your poem is a good reminder.
Indeed.. And I’m afraid it might be more fragile than we think in the Wester world too
Ha Ha! Trying to laugh with gritted teeth! The drawing works just fine.
Yes indeed not a laughing matter..
A delicate balance indeed….
“So once again we have to choose
with input from the biased news”
Anytime I listen to the news anymore, I’m sure that I’m getting bamboozled. Love your drawing-so apt!
ah. thank you.. wish I had more drawing skill… hmm does it look like Putin?
News is so biased and yet we have to remain informed. I go through periods of wanting to bury my head in the sand alternated with trying to inform myself by studying all points of view. Enjoyed the prompt.
Knowing it’s biased one can gain a lot by reading Russia today…
ah putin as well… yes… we have to try to keep democracy from rolling down this mountain… cool poem and cool prompt björn
Thank you.. it would be nice to work as a poetic journalist .. wouldn’t it?
Den här är verkligen underbar! Precis så ska det låta! Du ställde till det för mig med den här prompten, faktiskt eftersom jag är alldeles för trött för att tänka idag… I vilket fall är den här underbar!
Tack så mycket… dagsverser är tydligen något som bara finns i de Nordiska länderna….
Hi Bjorn, this looks a great challenge, excellent choice of topic from you and I am ever so pleased to see someone with my artistic ability, trying but yet strangely struggling. All said tongue in cheek of course.
I look forward to see your drawing 🙂
Hmm I was going you wouldn’t say that. Oh well see what I can do.
Ok Bjorn had a go, sorry if I was rude about your art work.
It needed to be no more complex to get your point across, Bjorn. I think dagsvers should be taken up in newspapers around the world. What a delightful form of journalism. And full of the potential for barbs… 🙂
Yes it is.. maybe a way to create a magazine
What a wonderful idea! 🙂
wow dude, great balance with this piece… also, your drawing… couldn’t help but giggle
This was clever with nice use of language. I hope mine fits the bill. Not sure mine was simplistic – just my voice..texanese! Thanks. I didn’t draw my image, I just photoshopped it! Ha!
Good on you for writing the ‘dagsvers’ and drawing the cartoon to go with….I think it speaks volumes about what is going on over there.;)
Clever write Björn – and thanks for an excellent prompt.
Anna :o]
Smiles, that was a very interesting treatment to the subject. Now I know where are you coming from, may be I side tracked a bit.
Cleverly worded and alas, too true.
recently there was a very interesting discussion on bbc about what democracy is and whether it really is the best form of governance. made me realise how we all see the concept very differently.
I’m not grasping all of what is going in the world while stuck in my own little universe, but I definitely understand your very sophisticated poetic thoughts. Scary world. Glad I could read this. And thank you for your always kind comments when I can write.
biased news in my country is actually paid news…ugh…and truth is scary these days specially…nice lines and sketch 😉
Great poem. I love how you bring some levity to a tense, high-profile standoff.
Can balance ever be obtained? I wonder? Welcome back and interesting prompt.
Ha! I think your drawing is quite charming. And it is a rather toppling situation– you are certainly right. Thanks. k.
You can really draw, as well as write good poetry. The world is going to hell in a handbasket.
Ohmigosh! I’m reading a book in which Sysiphos was mentioned and it intrigued me (but i didnt check it) and then i click this link and the name is right there! So i did google it just now. I love how im always learning something new… Especially these greek mythologies. They are filled with sommuch meaning!
Alluding to this particular mythology really broughht your point across.
Nice poem and scary at the same time. I really like the drawing, too. Thanks for the awesome prompt, Bjorn!