Writing today to gently remind you that Wisdom’s Water, my poetic / lyrical collaboration with the AI Music platform Suno, drops on Spotify on February 12th, 20026.
I had a blast crafting the lyrics and working in Suno to select the most suitable musical vehicle for my words and feelings. I’m inspired by all of the artists and citizens speaking out and protesting in defense of our democracy, which we are in legitimate danger of losing.
Not all of the songs are protest songs, but many are. I hope you download, stream, and share them with friends and family. And I hope you enjoy listening to them!
I created an artist account on Instagram and have been posting snippets of tracks from Wisdom’s Water. Feel free to follow the artist profile at https://www.instagram.com/sapientrain/
Here is a little taste of Wisdom’s Water from Sapient Rain:
If not for witness cell phone videos, the Trump administration would be categorizing the execution-style murder of Alex Pretti as a domestic terrorist attack by the victim.
How do we know this? Because before those videos went public, before any investigation into the shooting, that’s what Kristi Noem, Donald Trump, Greg Bovino, and Karoline Leavitt suggested. All of them are fucking liars protecting murderers.
I keep waiting for the lightbulb to flicker and ignite above the heads of decent Americans who voted for this piece of garbage and for them to say, “Enough is enough.” No one is asking you to become progressive, or liberal, or socialist, just fucking human, just fucking decent.
Our government is murdering citizens in the street, and all we hear from many of our fellow citizens is the deafening sound of their silence.
I am not surprised that people like Donald Trump exist and can lie their way to the most powerful office in the world. I’m not surprised that there are hateful, bigoted people who get off on the vicious treatment by this administration of American citizens and undocumented people. None of that surprises me.
What surprises and distresses me is the silence from those who know better. My Republican friends who know what our constitution says, who see it being violated regularly by Trump and his administration, and still remain silent.
You can judge a nation’s greatness by how it treats the marginalized in its communities and by whether it encourages kindness, tolerance, education, and scientific expertise. When America excels at these things, we are indeed a great nation. Under Trump, we are objectively regressing in every one of these areas, and today, many American citizens are afraid of their government, which is a tell-tale sign that we are drifting towards authoritarianism.
Truth, integrity, and character have not simply been relegated to the backseat of our democracy – it’s worse than that – they’ve been thrown out of the car altogether, and now that vehicle travels recklessly as a putrid vessel of Presidential self-interest and self-preservation.
When an unrestrained and morally decrepit leader of a powerful nation flaunts the rule of law, the rest of us, the citizens of that nation, get splattered and stained by the consequences of his messy and lawless decisions.
We are muddied and sullied by association, and our ability to disassociate ourselves from his sick, twisted, and purely transactional worldview is hampered by the chokehold he and his supporters have put on the systems of checks and balances designed by our founders to prevent such a person from rising to power.
My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.
Fascism and Oligarchy are familiar bedfellows that share several structural similarities, including the concentration of power, the suppression of dissent, the prioritization of ruling-class interests, and the erosion of democratic norms.
The repressive effect of fascism and oligarchy on citizens includes loss of political voice, economic inequality, reduced civil liberties, and social polarization. Horrifyingly, we’re seeing the effects of fascism and oligarchy in America today.
I understand the cynicism Americans feel around politics — and it is totally justified. But, to effectively fight the spread of fascism and oligarchy, we MUST participate in democratic processes, even when they feel imperfect. So, educate yourselves (and others), build cross-community solidarity, push for structural reforms, and stay connected and refuse isolation.
My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.
My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.
My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-9/11 America.
I’ve just published “Imagine There’s No Donald” on Amazon.com.
Imagine There’s No Donald is a lyrical collection that channels the melodic cadence of (mostly) Beatles songs to deliver searing poetic indictments of Donald Trump, the MAGA movement, and their corrosive impact on American democracy.
Each poem echoes the structure and emotional resonance of iconic musical tracks—think “Rocky Racoon” reimagined as the tale of Donald Trump’s destructive path to the presidency, or Terry Jacks’ “Seasons in the Sun” transformed into a lament on Republican cowardice and lost democratic norms.
Through this fusion of pop nostalgia and political critique, the collection:
🎶 Harnesses Familiar Rhythms: The song structures serve as scaffolding for verses that are both accessible and subversive, drawing readers in with rhythm before confronting them with truth.
🔥 Excoriates Authoritarianism: Trump and MAGA are portrayed not just as political figures but as symbols of a broader erosion of truth, decency, and constitutional integrity.
🕊️ Defends Democratic Ideals: The poems mourn the fragility of American institutions while fiercely advocating for civic engagement, accountability, and moral clarity.
🎤 Amplifies Dissent: With a voice that is at once satirical and sincere, the book invites readers to sing along in protest, turning melody into a megaphone for resistance.
Whether riffing on “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” to expose the sycophantic rot of the Trump administration or twisting “When I Saw Her Standing There!” into an elegy against oligarchs and authoritarianism, this book is a poetic rebellion—an artistic act of defiance that refuses to be silent in the face of democratic decay.
Most free thinkers, poets, and essayists are but a thorn in the side of the authoritarian regime that is running roughshod over America’s democracy. Writing and speaking truth to power sometimes feels like screaming into the void. But with critical mass and momentum, art can influence public sentiment and mobilize opposition to repressive policies and tactics, making it a powerful adversary to regimes that rely on propaganda and control.
Verbal resistance alone won’t revive our democracy. If we’re going to right the ship in America, we’re going to have to do more than sing and complain. We’re going to have to take to the streets and, as the honorable Georgia Congressman John Lewis famously said, “get in good trouble, necessary trouble” by the millions.
Get your copy of Imagine There’s No Donaldon Amazon. Please feel free to share the link with others on your social media or simply by giving the book to a loved one as a gift.
My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-9/11 America.
bendingtheneedle 