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Writings of Andrea W. LeDew
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So glad you have signed up to receive the For Random Learning Comes Newsletter! This is the one hundred and twenty-sixth edition.
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Sorry so late in the weekend getting this out. Always, always, too much to do.
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It's been another political week, I fear. There is no end of inspiration in that department! I continue to live in a state of cognitive dissonance, in which I just can't believe my lying eyes. It does seem to help, to individually catalogue these mind-bending events, so I hope I won't try your patience too much. with the four pieces on offer.
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The most recent poem is called Radio Free Europe. Besides being a killer song by R.E.M., the title calls to mind all sorts of activities the US participated in during the Cold War. The point of these actions was to try to persuade people in communist countries in Eastern Europe to overthrow their regimes (is that what's going on??)
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Broadcasts from Radio Free Europe and dropping leaflets from airplanes were two examples of ways to reach these people, when non-propagandist access to the truth was impossible. I seem to recall hearing that many of these practices were used in later conflicts, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, as well. All in the interest of spreading Democracy and expanding the Free World.
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Contrary to this long-held US mission, it is being reported, that this administration is taking away the funding of Voice of America, which includes Radio Free Europe.
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I lived in Germany for nearly a year, at the tail end of the Cold War. I had the pleasure of crossing the East/West border to visit Berlin, and even spent a few hours in Communist East Berlin, as once was. See my flash fiction piece Manila Envelope for a taste of that time and those people.
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Much like the taste of the substandard chocolate, that I got out of a vending machine in East Berlin, the deletion of pro-democratic funding from our foreign policy strikes me as both nauseating and eviscerating. Perhaps that's just me and my high standards.
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My second poem is called Playing Cards. The premise came to me, while watching the humiliating Zelenskyy meeting at the White House, in which Ukraine's President exclaimed in exasperation "I am not playing cards!"
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The poem has less to do with Ukraine, lamentable as that meeting was, and more to do with the administration playing fast and loose with the levers of government. In the end, we citizens are the ones who lose this game, and eventually we will have to pay up.
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Next is a rare treat for you (I hope!) called Porch Protest. It's a thirty minute, 5000 word story, so get comfortable. But I hope it will be worth your time!
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In Porch Protest an ordinary family decides to do something, however humble, to stand up for the institutions they love and depend on.
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I would be very flattered to hear, if anyone takes up this idea and runs with it! I am very tempted, myself.
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I'm sure you have your own networks of dissent, but I understand on April 4th there will be various Indivisible "Hands Off!" protests all around the country, so check them out or do your own, if you're so inclined!
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Last of all, I have a poem called Five Things, which refers to the email sent recently to federal government employees. The email required each employee to give a list of five things they did during the past week--and continue to do this every single week!--in order to justify their continued employment. I found this trick truly offensive, and I hope, that both the jobs and the full dignity of all those federal workers will be restored.
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As for my novel, in the past two weeks I've worked on everything but it. Taxes, paperwork, filing, etc. But I did add a paltry 1,112 words, bringing my total over the 75,000 word threshold to 75,413. I am three-quarters of the way there! Meanwhile, my idea to produce even a self-published collection of political poems is looking more relevant with each passing day!
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Hope all is well with you and yours! Till next time!
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Please recommend my newsletter to your friends! And good luck with your own protests.
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So Close and Yet So Far
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This essay discusses the Semiquincentennial celebration and compares it with Fourths of Years gone by.
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Drawing
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A poem on redistricting, the drawing of new districts to serve the ruling party's political purposes, with the blessing of the Supreme Court and with enthusiasm unchecked by either the people's will nor the State's Constitutional provisions.
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Attempt
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A poem describing the swirling emotions on and offline provoked by the attempted assassination of President Trump at the dinner for the press. Caveat: I do not doubt the attempt on his life was real. P.S. The photo is an attempt at beauty.
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Approaching May 1st, 2026, Anniversary of The Great Fire, Jacksonville, FL
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A poem about a very dry spring in Florida which calls to mind the terrible fire which consumed Jacksonville early in the 20th century.
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Smiles
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This poem analyzes the loss of reputation of the US in the eyes of its closest allies, and the attitude it projects, about that loss.
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