The Mother of Exiles lifts her lamp high above the shore.
Showing the world the open, golden door
which does not close on the rich, nor on the poor.
Greatness lies just beyond it where
no storied pomp, nor propaganda can close a door
where freedom reigns instead of princes and kings;
despite the mean-spirited ads, rallies, rants and roar.
The huddles masses of those who came before
yearning to be free are just like you and me.
Together, we immigrants to a foreign shore
watch not the dismantling of the door,
as we watched the destruction of the East Wing;
but, the boards of hate and fear nailing it shut
wondering what an AI fascist future may bring.
Meanwhile, MAGA boasts and laughs and struts.
All that now remains is a frame and lintel
on which voters hopes patiently hang.
And, those seeking safety on American shores
are hunted and locked up by those who fear and hate,
whose violence has been unleashed
as it has been many times before.
A nation built using violence to seize its manifest destiny
none-too-soon learned to use restraint;
amended a constitution, and regulated greed and hate.
A new door must be built, open to allow hope to flourish
and America’s soul renewed by love for all,
that we may see its faith is restored.
Vote to end America’s soul-less rage.
Vote to turn America’s fearfully hate-written page.
Vote our constitution and rule of law to be restored.
Vote to lift your own lamp above every closed door.
Lift the lamp of freedom over America forevermore.
Hiding your light under the barrel and staying silent
has never worked before.
GO VOTE!
Then light the space around you
until the nightmares are put at an end;
and America is, once again, on the mend.
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
Money counts for nothing.
It has no intrinsic worth,
these tiny bits of metal
dug, then foundered from the earth.
Money adds no value to our lives.
Its value lies outside its cost to self.
Its only value is what it tells us.
Money talks after all.
It tells us what we truly value,
whom we raise up, and whom we let fall.
We bet our future on its use,
or bury it in secure vaults.
We use it to boast about greatness
while it hides our basest faults.
It buys the things around us.
It buys the myth of our safety.
It serves to remind us
we are nothing at all;
but, tiny specks in a universe
among many millions just like us,
trying to rise while gravity pulls us
around and down giant black holes.
Money fools us, a tool that uses us,
while we think we rule over others
just like us.
So, we gather it as best we can
to show we are better than
our fellow woman or man.
We cannot rely upon our own souls
to bring wisdom, love and life,
to end the useless strife.
We buy bullets instead of bread.
We drop bombs instead of supplies.
We destroy earth instead of fear.
We believe our own and others’ lies.
Money becomes our grand prize.
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