The ballot cast—a hopeful cheer—
Yet history’s shadows gather near.
From Rome’s proud halls to Berlin’s night,
A false savior rises, stoking fright.
He fans old wounds with whispered blame,
Turns fear to fire, and hope to shame.

First, the siren-song: “Order! Pride!”
For wounds that fester, deep and wide.
He vows to heal, to cleanse, restore—
But asks for trust, then takes much more.
He weaves a dream of golden days,
And veils the truth in gilded haze..

A mythic past is conjured bright,
With flags and slogans, “us” and “right.”
The cult of leader, strong and pure,
Demands obedience to endure.
His image cast in sacred light,
A nation’s fate bound to his might.

The press is named the people’s foe,
Truth twisted in a constant show.
Disinformation, loud and fast,
Ensures the leader’s word will last.
The fourth estate, besieged and torn,
Its independence battered, trust forlorn.

The pen of power, now unbound,
Redraws the law, reshapes the ground.
Parliaments and courts grow weak,
Their voices silenced—dare not speak.
The rules once sacred, swept aside,
While justice falters, rights denied.

The civil service, loyalty purged,
Expertise and reason scourged.
The state is hollowed, skill replaced
By lackeys, all dissent erased.
Experience gone, confusion sown,
A weakened system stands alone.

Scapegoats chosen, enemies named—
Minorities and migrants blamed.
Division sown, the people split,
While violence stirred up, bit by bit.
Old fears awakened, unity undone,
A fractured nation, hope outrun.

Private armies, uniforms,
March in step as order forms.
Protests crushed, the crowds dispersed,
Obedience claimed, free thought reversed.
Dread shadows every public space,
And silence wears a guilty face.

No more elections—power sealed,
A nation shackled, wounds unhealed.
The ballot box, a hollow shell,
Where hope once lived, now shadows dwell.
Democracy, a faded word,
Freedom’s echo, no longer heard.

So heed the lessons history lends:
Autocracy creeps, then swiftly bends.
A world once free can lose its way
When fear and myth hold final sway.
Guard truth and courage, hold them near—
For silence feeds what we most fear.