Soapbox

Don’t give that old bum money-
He’ll probably spend it on booze.
Those people are drunk or crazy!
I’ll bet you think so, too.

Hey, I believe in cultrual diversity,
As long as I’m still the majority rule.
They can drive taxis or run the mini-mart
But don’t let them in my kid’s school!

I am accused of a liberal mind:
Of consorting with those who are really not my kind,
Accused of hugging the trees,
Accused of welcoming refugees
And thinking that even owls have the right to be.
I am accused!

I want a nice house out of town:
Tear down the forest and build me one.
With the finest security system:
A guard at the gate and me with a gun.

I must have an SUV, 4×4
And the earth owes me a full gas tank;
GPS and off-road tires
So I’ll look cool as I drive to the bank.

I am accused of caring who’s beating his wife,
Accused of hurting when hate ends someone’s life
Accused of supporting the cause
To keep God in our hearts and out of our laws.
Using Him to justify hate should give us all pause,
Yet I am accused!

Don’t waste my money on welfare:
They’d all do better if they’d just try.
I should get to keep all that I earn,
And it’ll trickle down to them, by and by.

Typhoon in India, coup in Africa,
Prison labor behind the Great Wall,
And it’s too bad about ethnic cleansing
But it’s not really my business at all.

I am accused of a bleeding heart,
Accused to taking the poor man’s part,
Accused of wearing my heart on my sleeve
And I am guilty, indeed,
Yes I am guilty, indeed
As I am accused.

The Secretary of defense
clucks his tongue
with concern over "Unflattering coverage"
As if this war,
stealer of limbs and filler of coffins,
is a moody and petulant debutante
who must be pampered and praised
if she is to perform her best
in the "War gowns" competition
of the Miss America pageant.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be ridiculed
and called "traitor".

Blessed are the meek
for they shall be devoured
by the political machine.

Blessed are those who turn the other cheek
for they will be
smacked down yet again.

Blessed are the truth-tellers
for they shall be branded "troublemakers"
and never work in this town again.

Blessed are those who seek
for they shall be called "secularists"
and anti-Christian.

Blessed are those who love
for they shall be reviled
by those who hold their own hatred sacred.

“You go to war with the army you have…”
he said to the courageous young man,
about to risk death,
who dared to ask him “why?”

Why is there money for tax cuts
and star wars weapons
and trips to Mars
but not enough money
to put armored plating
on the machine he will ride into war?

“You go to war with the army you have…”
he said, sweating slightly
in his expensive suit
from behind his podium,
far outside the combat zone.

But he chose to begin the war,
with an army woefully short on
armour for the trucks,
batteries for their equipment,
planning for the peace.

When half the world begged him to wait,
he sought out this conflict
without even enough bullets
or water for the canteens
of soldiers sent to crawl through a desert.

No, Mr. Secretary:
THEY go to war
with the army you gave them.
YOU put on a clean shirt
and fly back home again.

So it seems I won a second place this year in the Ohio Poetry Day contest. It was for a piece that I don’t think was the best thing I submitted, but isn’t that always the way? Perhaps it got a sentimental vote because of the recent re-opening of the Statue of Liberty.

Keeping Faith

The Lady stands in the harbor
In good weather and in bad,
To guide the way to liberty,
Free those in bondage
And lift up the oppressed.

In times of great moral courage
And times of wretched ignorance,
She stands watch
To remind us all
That America will always aspire to rise
Above man’s worst instincts,
And set an example
That itself is a beacon
For all who seek opportunity.

When her children stumble
And fall prey to fear and cowardice
Or seek revenge over justice,
She keeps the faith
And does not let us forget
The power of compassion,
Or the strength of truth.

Too often her light reveals
Neglect and incompetence
Greed and self-rightousness
Pre-emptive war and prison camps,
Guns and bombs
Anger and terror.

And still she stands
To remind us
That there is strength in diversity,
And that freedom means taking risks.
Through the dark night her lamp shines on
And she whispers to her children
That the path to liberty
Does not involve
Hoods and electrodes.