As I read The Parable of the Talents, and consider the evil idiocy of the new administration, I am upset. Pissed off. Life has completely imitated art, unfortunately. Chapter 11 of the book is horrific, and it starts with this prescient, timely poem:

Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought

To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears

To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool

To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen

To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies

To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery

I can’t think of a better summary of the US in 2025. Octavia Butler…oracle, seer and truthteller.