Washington’s lights can be seen all around,
From street to street, town to town, and through the world.
Its people moved with seeming grace and ease;
Washington’s reach could be felt all around,
And his memory was sacred and bound
To the freedom of all men God had made.
Washington’s people moved with grace and ease
And its magnetic pull brought tons around;
Promises of prosperity—the calling sound.
Washington’s memory—sacred and bound,
Tethered to freedom of the men God made—
Its grand sights can be seen from all around,
And its people moved with stoic-like ease.
Echoes of prosperity its bouncing sound.
Washington’s cherry blossoms are bleeding red,
While its memory mesmerizes the bound
Wired to the free dumb—the men God forbade—
Washington’s noose chokeholds everyone around
And its subjects stayed with an awful unease.
The banshee shrieks of the free dumb shredding sound.
“Let freedom ring in a patriotic sound”—
The damned cherry blossoms are oozing red—
“Let its memory draw you—to it be bound.”
Chained are the free dumb—the ones Washington stayed—
And their image haunts with such unease,
The howling cries of freedom a lost sound.
Washington’s barbed-wire noose strangles all around
Into submission, carrying out its will—
“Let’s sing ‘free dumb’ in a patriotic sound”—
“Let its memory control you—to it be bound.”
Stained are the free dumb—they’re Washington’s spayed—
And their menace looms with such unease;
Their howling cries for freedom a horrid sound—
And their jail cell lights paid for by all around—
Heard street to street, town to town, and through the world.
© 2026 Tristan Robert Lange. All rights reserved.
First published on tristanrobertlange.com, September 21, 2026.
Tittu
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The series continues next Macabre Monday with:
Saint Sorebones
-
Author:
Tristan Robert Lange (
Offline) - Published: September 21st, 2026 06:40
- Comment from author about the poem: This is the second part of Season 2 in my series, Devilishly Dreadful. For Macabre Monday. Inspired by George W. M. Reynolds’s The Mysteries of London, its infamous Resurrection Man, and its entangled worlds of respectable power and criminal darkness, this poem relocates the mystery to modern Washington. Written in my original Revelatory Cascade form, its repeated lines shift as the poem expands through marble monuments, inherited memory, and the promises made in freedom’s name.
- Category: Gothic
- Views: 10
- Users favorite of this poem: Friendship, Carlos Alberto BUSTILLOS
- In collections: Devilishly Dreadful: A Macabre Monday Series.
Offline)
Comments6
the darkness and light of freedom
Exactly, Norman…that contradiction is the heart of it. Much appreciated. 🏛️🩸🦇🙏
most welcome friend
And for the rest of the week - Macabre Madness of Popeye & Co, featuring scary glugs, sounds of knitting needles, and clashes of sabres in duels. lol.
The sabres are clashing, the needles are clicking, and WCAT has lost contact with Popeyeus. Ol\\\' Thomas keeps knitting and insists this is all perfectly normal, Orchi. 🏛️🩸🦇🙏
Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, Ol' Tom knitting, eh? WCAT if he is or not! lol.
Well written. Your poem critiques the notion of freedom as it relates to marginalized groups, suggesting that the reality of "freedom" may be an illusion for many, echoing sentiments of unease and disillusionment.
Thank you, Friendship! That’s exactly where I was headed with this one. I truly appreciate you, my friend. 🏛️🩸🦇🙏
There are no rules in war, anything goes in preserving what one values, freedom is worth enslaving for, truth is worth lying to preserve, deceive to preserve honor, use corruption to enable honesty. A terrorist's decree in the land of the free. Well written my friend.
Exactly, Soren. The country keeps committing the crime while delivering a speech about its innocence. 🏛️🩸🦇🙏
Hypocrisy at its best
The illustration of your poem reminded me of the images from the movie Logan's Run; we are in dreadful times, where freedom is increasingly scarce. Well written.
https://youtu.be/oQbdIRc16As?si=ser1qjHXWJmQ88s9
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https://youtu.be/_flsYtL9gaU?si=x3jkpvvOyby84Hnd
Thanks, Carlos! We seem to be turning yesterday’s dystopian fiction into today’s political planning. 🏛️🩸🦇🙏
Cinema is a way for us to grow accustomed… the Overton window…
Wishing you joyful reading and writing.
There’s a damn deliberately tangled, oppressive feeling here, with the repeated language of freedom, prosperity, grace, and Washington slowly mutating into images of blood, chains, barbed wire, and a noose. The repetition is the engine of the poem, because the familiar patriotic phrases keep coming back warped and corrupted, making the reader feel the speaker’s growing sense that the promise of freedom has become something much darker.
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