Return, Old Cause!

What must the old ones think of us?

To thee, Old Cause! That cause because a new cause cannot be upheld unless by some miracle every proponent of it dies in some deliciously ironic accident or murder that makes them martyrs,

You see, they do more harm than good alive to the cause for which they rally their millions of superfluous dollars and reject with hateful hypocrisy the notions of old, for old must be wrong,

They forget you, Old Cause! Thou peerless, passionate, good cause, that loomed over Vicksburg and Indianapolis like a gentle giant tethered to the ground by the very populous of those you sought to save,

Once an icon of hope and freedom, now dashed in the muddied grime of antiquity for the cutting-edge hipsters to spit on you and call you false, fantastical, and farcical, a ruse to lull America into complacency,

I ask you, return to us, though my voice may be drowned by the fashionable cynics, the moneymen, the Prius-driving slaves to the half-tasted fruit of Steve Jobs and the robots whispering in their ears,

Return to us, save us from ourselves because we cannot ourselves save! Return to us, through cable newsrooms and classrooms and dorm rooms filled with lusty college students wired for sex,

Return to us, if not to make us great, then at least to make us whole again, for broken we have become like the once-treasured plastic green army men of little boys living in crowded mobile home parks,

Broken under the crushing weight of our own ego, the American dream which became the American pipe dream, fever dream, nightmare acid hallucination that wreaks havoc on our souls and windpipes,

Old Cause! Old Cause! Do not tell me that you walked into the Chesapeake that fateful day when bankers leapt from skyscrapers, or when Nagasaki fell, or, earlier still, when we lost sight of you,

You, our only hope.

Author's Note

Based upon the Whitman poem, "To Thee, Old Cause" and "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg. All reviews welcome!

Reviews

[B-poet]

Wonderfully written & well composed. Great work Hilary. A fine write & read. :)

[Wolfwind]

This is beautifully crafted and put together. It flows smooth and carries the message in the tone of the old soap box style. Technically, I can't find anything that stands out as odd, or off.

The piece speaks to me... for I see it as a very right wing and narrow view of society and how it's evolved from then to now. In my opinion the old ways which once worked for a different generation and in different times have grown obsololete and need to be revamped for the new generations. The issue in modern American society is that the new generations can't agree on what direction they wish to take the country and while they bicker, the older and aging political figures and those of big business are having their way with the country and making it ultimately harder for a new generation to gain a solid foothold.

Overall... I really enjoyed reading this piece. It certainly is one that I can see earning many different types of reviews. Great Ink!

Aaron - Wolfwind