A President who makes war
Against and on Behalf of the
Worst of the Arab world.
Who sells the country to the
Japanese government and its subsidized
corporations.
Who is a mealy-mouthed lying bastard
Banker.
Who doesn’t give a shit for his dog
except as a vote-getter.
Welcome to 1992—
Mayor Dinkins, who is a rubber stamp
Koch
Who is a bourgeois black
tennis player
That despises the Homeless, who closes
parks and removes benches, who
lets the police operate at their leisure
and only against the helpless.
Police who on Thanksgiving Day go after
sidewalk vendors.
Police who drive by car break-ins and muggings.
Who are never never there!
Who get pay raises while
others get booted from and
in their jobs.
A Mayor who wouldn’t know how to
spend Federal money even if he had it . . .
TV stations that suck up to
the police—
that ignore the disastrous
consequences of the fall of the
Berlin Wall in order to praise Capitalism,
that ignore the riots all over
Europe—
That have discussions between
right-wing democrats and right
wing republicans and
call it equal time.
Oh I wrote a poem to a tree,
And the Mayor and the President
Came along and pissed on it,
And the tree died.
Does that leave a poem?
The Senator Gets the News the World Is Burning, oil on sized paper, 11″ x 14”, 2014, by Stephen Lack
–Taylor Mead
Sensitive Skin 12 available here in PDF format here for just $4.95, or get the full-color print version via Amazon and select bookstores.
Drawings Painting Poetry
It’s striking how this piece delves into the complex web of political and social issues in 1992. The vivid imagery of the President and Mayor’s actions paints a stark picture of power dynamics and their impact on society. The metaphor of the tree dying after being urinated on by authority figures is powerful, symbolizing the desecration of something pure. It really makes you reflect on the consequences of unchecked power and corruption
The way this piece mixes raw political fury with a dying tree feels very Taylor Mead — angry, funny, and oddly tender all at once. I keep thinking about how that kind of handmade zine energy survives today; some creators now turn small poetry and art projects into a Turn content into a branded app instead of a photocopied booklet. Not the same thing, but the impulse feels related.
This piece really captures the raw frustration of that era, and the dying tree metaphor stays with you. It makes me think about how political anger gets expressed in art today, sometimes through small indie projects that feel just as handmade. I came across Gameilo while looking for a break from heavy reading, and it reminded me how people find different outlets for that same creative energy.
This piece feels so raw and immediate, like a snapshot of frustration from a particular moment. The tree metaphor really lands — it stays with you after reading. It makes me think about how political anger finds its way into creative projects today, whether through poetry, zines, or even tools like Faceless AI Video Storyboard Generator that help people shape their own visual narratives. Different formats, but that urge to respond to the world through art still feels alive.
The rage in this piece is so specific to that moment, yet the dying tree image still lands today. I appreciate how Taylor Mead turns political disgust into something almost tender. It reminds me of how people still channel that same urge into small creative projects, like the odd tools I stumbled on at AI Tools Discovery and Launchpad. Different format, same impulse to make something out of frustration.