Tag Archives: voting rights

The blinds have been opened. But, I sit in the dark.

Another morning at the table, set for one.

Alone in thoughtful reverie, with nowhere to run.

Heaving from grief and sorrow, viewed on every screen.

We are all aging fast before the onslaught

of armed men, masked and acting obscene.

This is not some video game we are playing,

detached and watching, divorced from reality.

When did Americans stop believing 

what their own eyes could clearly see?

It did not just happen. It is not new.

It happened many years ago.

Americans took flight in fright

from the reality unfolding before their eyes.

How we came to this fraught moment

is actually, not a great surprise.

People of color best know the story.

Wages stagnated and prices rose.

Profits soared for those “in the know”.

Americans ignored responsibility

and entertained themselves endlessly.

While women and girls became commodities;

and discounted people, un-housed and un-fed

roamed the streets living in dread.

Soldiers returning home from un-named wars 

and too many tours, stopped being cared for.

Now fake soldiers, cowardly cruel, take their cue

from technocrats and bureaucrats

seeking wealth and power.

There is no man of the hour calling the shots.

This is not what all this evil is about.

We did not get here led by a single man;

nor by a single party, nor political  stance.

We got here as the great pirates planned,

as we entertained ourselves with games of chance.

We could have noticed where we were headed

with a single, wake-full, glance.

But we were led on a merry dance.

And the dance no longer matters, as we die

at the feet of civil disorder.

We rise up and listen to new voices.

We now have limited choices.

But, still we can open our eyes

and seize the prize, once earned

by those who  have gone before us.

Lift voices of hope and power

into a freedom-seekers’ chorus.