POEM: Later Than We Think

Empires rise and empires fall
Roman, Ottoman, British
The American empire lies on its deathbed
Heartbeat faint, breathing labored
Fingers growing cold

The powerful divide us and conquer us
With the politics of fear
Pit us one against the other
Tell us we are not our brother’s keeper
Ayn Rand’s twisted morality spills
From gilded lips

They divide us with God and unborn
Babies
Gay marriage and evolution
Gun control and contraception
Race and the color line

While we bicker at the margins,
They plunder and hoard
Destroy the commons on which
We all depend

Time to stand and be counted
Time to stand and be heard
Time to stand and be seen

Our flag still flies
But it doesn’t mean what it once
Did
The wine of our exceptionalism
Has gone rancid in the cask

Money bought the government
And the government delivers the spoils
To the doorstep of its masters
One nation under dollars,
Divisible
With property and prosperity
For the privileged few
Begrudged scraps for the many

Too much money in too few hands
Every banana republic’s time-honored recipe

Time to stand and be counted
Time to stand and be heard
Time to stand and be seen

It’s later than we think
It’s later than we think
It’s later than we think