The Hasids were a splinter group at first,
who added song and dance – so I was taught –
but grew in time so rigid, now they’re cursed
with viral ignorance and magic thought.
I see in Protestants a simile.
The radical reflected in their name
has paled into a grim conformity –
whatever they are now is not the same.

I try not to be bigoted, and yet,
I must confess I’m viewing with dismay
the “Willa Cather people” whom I met
when I was young and didn’t have a say
in schoolbooks. Simple answers aren’t smart,
but I think WASPs are faulty, in my heart.