A Great "American" Poem
I'm not usually a big fan of poetry, but I stumbled across this poem the other day and it impressed the hell out of me. It's a unique and I believe a profound statement on American society today. The poet is a fellow who goes by the moniker, "Another Voice" and I'm reposting it here with his permission. If you like it and want to see more of his orginal poetry you can find it at his blog:
http://www.myspace.com/neorhymerforthispsuedoage
main street, a mainstream, once two way roads is only one way now and burdened with loads … that "one way," the "right way" –all else, "the wrong way…" SUVs, hummers, and tanks heave and sway like hannibal-ed pachyderms shaking the earth imposing, enforcing, by numbers and girth .. . board rooms are war rooms, warlord CEOs robber-baron brokers of the black gold that flows . .. they broke family farms first, small business followed, those standing, defying, they chewed up and swallowed. wall to wall marts now, where mom and pop stood on the sixth day, broke unions and said "this is good." they happy-faced prices and low-balled the wage they poor-housed employees and robbed their old age .. . then brokered deals with the Party of no choice they brokered the white house and robbed us of voice … the generals of commerce redrew global lines rewrote policies –threw out world designs … they restrung their puppets, noosed florida too sodomized red states and embraced the blue .. . wrote government contracts, they rewrote old laws their puppet smirked "nationalism," made it his cause. they laid off workforces by the opening bell and robbed them of pensions –then two towers fell. a nation united in red, white and blue… so they sold them all flags –then sold them guns too… and then, under cover, like a thief in the night they stole language from us, to keep the reins tight. they redefined journalism, rewrote their script til news was a mouthpiece, weak upper lipped. they redefined "patriot" while war drums kept beat . . til the "withs" or "against" met each other, the street . . . on main street, the mainstream, was two streams instead black gold, for life's own, that ran only red … "patriot" defined those who stood up for war . . . the corporate war loads kept pushing for more . . . division and conquer –they made easy work made a buzz word of "justice" from their smug puppet's smirk .. . they redefined "enemy" –revillified "queer" made "prochoice" "abortionists" –while they filled us with fear. redefined "privacy," we held as dear right defined "unilateral" as justified might. "collateral damage" they buried, no press.. . gave them cards to play with . . and names to redress. the anchorman chuckled … the reporters would flirt . . while the nameless and blameless fell dead in the dirt. the "innocent civilians …" –but are there anymore? a flag you're born under, and then you're killed for? those who protested were "traitor" defined . . "anti-American" who spoke up their mind in a country where free speech was noblest right -that, too, a victim, the thieves in the night. "mission accomplished." they redefined that . . their puppet in jump suit and new shiny hat . . . they stole rainbows from us and gave us, in place red, orange and yellow, and dangers to face . . . they redefined fear everyday in the news . . there's nothing to win, but everything to lose . . . nothing to gain, as a faceless "have not" and you're told to be thankful for all that you've got . . . while the middleclass keeps losing more numbers each day there's no climbing up, so there's only one way . . . . those cracks "people slip through" turned chasming maw the "salt of the earth" for the ravens to gnaw . . . and the earth to reclaim –for it's all "dust to dust" the homeless to follow as the lower class must . . . detritus the mainstream can carry no more body bags stacking, the ruthless class war. childless parents, husbandless wives unpriveledged enlisted –to just lose their lives . . . no loved one returning, the once, flesh and bone a folded up flag for the ones left alone . . . no memories, futures, no laughter to share emptiness, aching, the no longer there . . . a last corporate gift, to the faceless, meak, poor but their faces remain, in the hearts that adore .. who will pause for them, and weep for the lost who will mourn for those who paid that dear cost and bankrupt the widows, those gave, for the dream the tears of the mourners now flood the mainstream. liberal is bad in the new dictionary "generous, tolerant" is now "evil, scary" a language of fear in this corporate empire of spiraling wages, while profits, soar higher .. . where governing puppets own big business too war profiteering that keep big chips blue . . . but its not profiteering if you own the press the media, servants to corporate largess . . . it's not "empire building" if you decide terms it's not really "killing" when you're feeding the worms it's not really "murder" if they died in the war it can't be "bad business" if the markets would roar and numbers add up, if you just switch their names and what's underhanded when you run the games? you can't social spend if you're business imbedded fighting for their future, best-day-aheaded . . . in the absence of truth, can a lie still exist in this misinformation age, web-hit-and-missed? when the bar is so lowered that pygmies can clear and ignorance, arrogance rule with fear … then national security is the biggest lie yet- it's all insecurity, the hovering threat and terrorism? originally a state-run affair .. . the French revolution, and we've heads to spare but no minds to question, and no mouths to speak to those who won't listen, while we all grow weak and fall by the numbers through those widening cracks the corporate empires weight breaking our backs. the weight of the minted coin, these states united is polarizing now, a country divided the haves and have nots, whom the haves have made slaves and keep us divided to our earlier graves .. we're so easier conquered, divided this way red and blue states, like the blue and the gray . . what "civil war," with civility gone? they won't redefine what they cannot bank on . . . . four years of misinformation, or lies or whatever they hide now beneath their disguise of national interest where business men rein this corporate take over. our losses, their gain they hold all the cards now, and the media, of course they've stolen the mainstream, dammed up at the source they point at the liberals, the traitors, their dream accuse them of daring redefining mainstream . .. they cry out "big spenders!" and "taxers!" and such but maybe this time we do need to spend much to get back so little of that robbed at night to shift to the middle from the way ultra right moderate measures will no relief find for all the lost wages and corpses behind . . . and you can't redefine something no longer there this rumored mainstream, it's flow is nowhere . . the CEOs used it for bodily waste and chemicals, needles, and other disgrace the puppets, they raged and they filled it with fears the mourners had only a place for their tears and artists and writers, the media made foes they went underground, but that how it goes . . . and the poor, uninsured, while health cost just soars they come and they weep, and they die on its shores. the stream finally stopped, dried up from no flow revealing lost treasures that once we did know the scales of justice, mangled, rust coated old laws, bill of rights, and more corpses, all bloated you can't redefine what was damned up instead there is no mainstream, it's a dry graveyard bed.
http://www.myspace.com/neorhymerforthispsuedoage
main street, a mainstream, once two way roads is only one way now and burdened with loads … that "one way," the "right way" –all else, "the wrong way…" SUVs, hummers, and tanks heave and sway like hannibal-ed pachyderms shaking the earth imposing, enforcing, by numbers and girth .. . board rooms are war rooms, warlord CEOs robber-baron brokers of the black gold that flows . .. they broke family farms first, small business followed, those standing, defying, they chewed up and swallowed. wall to wall marts now, where mom and pop stood on the sixth day, broke unions and said "this is good." they happy-faced prices and low-balled the wage they poor-housed employees and robbed their old age .. . then brokered deals with the Party of no choice they brokered the white house and robbed us of voice … the generals of commerce redrew global lines rewrote policies –threw out world designs … they restrung their puppets, noosed florida too sodomized red states and embraced the blue .. . wrote government contracts, they rewrote old laws their puppet smirked "nationalism," made it his cause. they laid off workforces by the opening bell and robbed them of pensions –then two towers fell. a nation united in red, white and blue… so they sold them all flags –then sold them guns too… and then, under cover, like a thief in the night they stole language from us, to keep the reins tight. they redefined journalism, rewrote their script til news was a mouthpiece, weak upper lipped. they redefined "patriot" while war drums kept beat . . til the "withs" or "against" met each other, the street . . . on main street, the mainstream, was two streams instead black gold, for life's own, that ran only red … "patriot" defined those who stood up for war . . . the corporate war loads kept pushing for more . . . division and conquer –they made easy work made a buzz word of "justice" from their smug puppet's smirk .. . they redefined "enemy" –revillified "queer" made "prochoice" "abortionists" –while they filled us with fear. redefined "privacy," we held as dear right defined "unilateral" as justified might. "collateral damage" they buried, no press.. . gave them cards to play with . . and names to redress. the anchorman chuckled … the reporters would flirt . . while the nameless and blameless fell dead in the dirt. the "innocent civilians …" –but are there anymore? a flag you're born under, and then you're killed for? those who protested were "traitor" defined . . "anti-American" who spoke up their mind in a country where free speech was noblest right -that, too, a victim, the thieves in the night. "mission accomplished." they redefined that . . their puppet in jump suit and new shiny hat . . . they stole rainbows from us and gave us, in place red, orange and yellow, and dangers to face . . . they redefined fear everyday in the news . . there's nothing to win, but everything to lose . . . nothing to gain, as a faceless "have not" and you're told to be thankful for all that you've got . . . while the middleclass keeps losing more numbers each day there's no climbing up, so there's only one way . . . . those cracks "people slip through" turned chasming maw the "salt of the earth" for the ravens to gnaw . . . and the earth to reclaim –for it's all "dust to dust" the homeless to follow as the lower class must . . . detritus the mainstream can carry no more body bags stacking, the ruthless class war. childless parents, husbandless wives unpriveledged enlisted –to just lose their lives . . . no loved one returning, the once, flesh and bone a folded up flag for the ones left alone . . . no memories, futures, no laughter to share emptiness, aching, the no longer there . . . a last corporate gift, to the faceless, meak, poor but their faces remain, in the hearts that adore .. who will pause for them, and weep for the lost who will mourn for those who paid that dear cost and bankrupt the widows, those gave, for the dream the tears of the mourners now flood the mainstream. liberal is bad in the new dictionary "generous, tolerant" is now "evil, scary" a language of fear in this corporate empire of spiraling wages, while profits, soar higher .. . where governing puppets own big business too war profiteering that keep big chips blue . . . but its not profiteering if you own the press the media, servants to corporate largess . . . it's not "empire building" if you decide terms it's not really "killing" when you're feeding the worms it's not really "murder" if they died in the war it can't be "bad business" if the markets would roar and numbers add up, if you just switch their names and what's underhanded when you run the games? you can't social spend if you're business imbedded fighting for their future, best-day-aheaded . . . in the absence of truth, can a lie still exist in this misinformation age, web-hit-and-missed? when the bar is so lowered that pygmies can clear and ignorance, arrogance rule with fear … then national security is the biggest lie yet- it's all insecurity, the hovering threat and terrorism? originally a state-run affair .. . the French revolution, and we've heads to spare but no minds to question, and no mouths to speak to those who won't listen, while we all grow weak and fall by the numbers through those widening cracks the corporate empires weight breaking our backs. the weight of the minted coin, these states united is polarizing now, a country divided the haves and have nots, whom the haves have made slaves and keep us divided to our earlier graves .. we're so easier conquered, divided this way red and blue states, like the blue and the gray . . what "civil war," with civility gone? they won't redefine what they cannot bank on . . . . four years of misinformation, or lies or whatever they hide now beneath their disguise of national interest where business men rein this corporate take over. our losses, their gain they hold all the cards now, and the media, of course they've stolen the mainstream, dammed up at the source they point at the liberals, the traitors, their dream accuse them of daring redefining mainstream . .. they cry out "big spenders!" and "taxers!" and such but maybe this time we do need to spend much to get back so little of that robbed at night to shift to the middle from the way ultra right moderate measures will no relief find for all the lost wages and corpses behind . . . and you can't redefine something no longer there this rumored mainstream, it's flow is nowhere . . the CEOs used it for bodily waste and chemicals, needles, and other disgrace the puppets, they raged and they filled it with fears the mourners had only a place for their tears and artists and writers, the media made foes they went underground, but that how it goes . . . and the poor, uninsured, while health cost just soars they come and they weep, and they die on its shores. the stream finally stopped, dried up from no flow revealing lost treasures that once we did know the scales of justice, mangled, rust coated old laws, bill of rights, and more corpses, all bloated you can't redefine what was damned up instead there is no mainstream, it's a dry graveyard bed.
posted by Leo at 3:49 PM
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