POWER FAILURE
by Eugene Mahon
They are pulling babies from their mothers
At our borders in the name of god
And country. They believe that blaming others
Will absolve them of their crimes. How odd:
Were their mothers cruel to them? Does that
Explain the disavowed cruelty,
The smug retreat behind the furtive format
Of civility and walls and fences. He
That believes or falls for that is a fool. No
Fools are more loving: they tease their Lears
But deep down they love the infant glow
On the old man’s face as they wipe the tears
Away. It is we who pull the children from the breast
It is we who build the cages where they rest.
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Eugene Mahon, MD, is a training and supervising psychoanalyst at Columbia Psychoanalytic Center for Training and Research. He has published three books —A Psychoanalytic Odyssey, Rensal the Redbit, and Boneshop of the Heart—and numerous articles on psychoanalysis. He practices in New York City.
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