Poem - Time to Rise

Every day the dream slips further out of reach
lost to a holy trinity of coin, God and fear

We search for our soul
on the border
in the bedroom
and on the backs of the
unborn

While the rich buy jewels for their pets
the Post Office collects canned goods for the hungry
and the line outside the Food Bank
winds around the block

In the name of Democracy we stain foreign soil with the blood
of innocents
ours and theirs
demand they remake themselves
in our image

But Democracy is as Democracy does
and on this desecrated turf
Democracy is peddled
like dish soap or tampons
turned into a carnival of clowns and barkers,
snake-oil wizards

Tom Jefferson’s heart is torn
Lincoln weeps non-stop
Dr. King’s dream is stuck in Louisiana mud
somebody stole Woody Guthrie’s guitar

We can’t distinguish truth from a sack-cloth coat
Sunday piety becomes Monday perfidy
the law of the temple is the law of the asphalt canyon –
exploit or be exploited
cheat or be cheated
lie or be lied to
primitive simplicity
better suited to animals than humans

Self-righteous hypocrites steal all they can carry
unable to get enough of anything
they return to tame their Jones
and their thievery is protected by a wicked few
who watch behind the safety of the laws
they made

TV reinforces our myths and delusions
murders the silence and the wonder
in the same way mega-malls and urban sprawl
murder the landscape

Afraid of our shadows, afraid of life
we swallow FDA-approved cures for imaginary ailments
patented and priced beyond reach;
ask your Doctor, read the label
watch for side-effects
don’t operate machinery

Time for self-preservation
time for the passive many to rise up
off the sofa, the curb, and the barstool
sledgehammer the TV
seek out the hands that rigged this deck
call them to account
for this misery and shame

We can mend Jefferson’s heart
quell Lincoln’s tears
rescue Dr. King’s dream
find Woody’s guitar

It’s our only hope