MAGA Plastic Face
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The Sermon of the Split Face
(As preached by the Pope of Love,
with apologies to no one and gratitude to mirrors everywhere)
Dear Beloveds,
I’ve noticed a thing
That is oddly absurd
We all look at faces
But don’t see the same word.
You say, “She’s so pretty!”
They say, “That’s a lie!”
You gasp and you blink
And you squint with one eye.
For once upon now, in this loud little age,
A face is a flag,
And a smile is a cage.
One sees a nice lady with cheeks full of cheer.
Another sees “ENEMY. DANGER. NOT FROM HERE.”
One sees soft kindness, a glimmer, a glow.
Another sees propaganda wrapped up in a bow.
We used to see freckles.
We used to see noses.
Now we see tribes and we see them in poses.
We see “liberal face!”
We see “MAGA mug!”
We see “brainwashed sheep!”
We see “fascist thug!”
We don’t see a human who laughed as a kid,
Or cried at a movie, or danced when they hid.
We don’t see the mirror is cracked down the seam.
We argue the face
Instead of the screen.
Because somewhere between the scroll and the shout,
The algorithm started handing faces out.
It said:
“This one’s good!”
“This one’s bad!”
“This one’s dangerous!”
“This one’s mad!”
And we nodded along, very certain, very sure,
That our version of beauty was honest and pure.
But hear me now, Beloved crew,
The Pope of Love has news for you:
If two people look at the same human face
And see different souls in the very same place,
The problem, dear hearts, is not skin, chin, or brow…
It’s the lens we were handed and forgot to disavow.
For love does not Botox.
Love does not filter.
Love does not whisper, “You’re better than her.”
Love does not say, “Mine is the true one.”
Love does not crown a political human.
Love says, “Look again. Then look once more.
Behind that face is a person, not war.”
So let us repent, not of makeup or trends,
But of mistaking reflections for enemies, friends.
Let us smash the great mirror that tells us we’re right,
And borrow new eyes for the rest of the night.
And if you still argue what pretty must be,
Just remember this truth from the Pope of Love, me:
A world that can’t agree on a face in the street
Has forgotten that love was the original filter, discreet.
Go in peace.
Go in laughter.
Go squint at your screens.
And if you see a face you hate…
Try seeing a human in between. 💗👀
Amen-ish.