Election Day Blues

A polictical rant

 

I.

 

I’m weary of our democracy

And the manipulations of the press

Abandoned by the T.V.

For information left suppressed

 

The government as it flows

Grows detrimental to itself

And those souls who feed on it

Are corrupted by its wealth

 

The divisive pall of Vanity

Inside grand Capitol walls

Cheapens institutions forged

To benefit us all

 

Every sad November we vote

To ignite changes in the rule

To choose between outdated parties

Of narcissists and fools

 

In our age of information

We dare ask a bigger say

Transforming representation

To take the power game away

 

The planet’s greatest nation drifts

To sail now void-of-course

It’s time to rise and lend a hand to act

 

 

II.

America, child of rebellion,,,,,,,,

America be very aware of spiraling back to rebellion……

 

Plutocracy has replaced our democracy

The lines separating corporations and government have blurred

Feint illusions to all but the salaried shills on the cable news

Politicians believing spin and public image far outweigh the truths of substance

Ideals given lip service on the campaign trail and touted for the camera’s eye.

 

It is unconscionable that there is a hungry mouth anywhere in America

When fat hangs from the jaws of privileged men.

 

It is unconscionable that families live in fear of sliding under.

One thin paycheck separating them from the abyss.

While politicians and C.E.O.’s slide between the sheets together like pampered w****s.

 

I’ve seen stadiums rise on the backs of taxpayers

While their children’s schools crumble around their ears.

I’ve seen mothers choose fasting to feed their children and pay the bills

I’ve seen tough, hard-working men break down when tapped to join the un-employment line.

 

Unemployment never a big deal until it started happening to the white-collared guys.

 

Who can fight this terrible beast?

When families are stressed to the point of paralysis

Perpetually blasted in the psyche by the bloody maul of the evening news

Desperate to the point of distraction

 

Solutions never solve anything but they make good copy

Especially, when it’s the politically expedient thing to do

All of the stroking ends, though, as soon as the ballot box is full.

 

Now, the other party will tell you it’s the other party’s fault

While the other party screams foul atop the roofs.

It doesn’t really matter which party occupies either spot.

It’s all a grand distraction designed to shut you out                    

 

 

III.

So, here we are a little over a decade into a new century and lost.

Everybody wants to be in charge but no one dares to lead.

We have been divided and conquered and watched it all

Going down around us

Without a clue as to how it happened.

                    

I believe in the people of this country.

Most of us don’t want a hand out.

We want a job. We want to help. We want to serve.

The pioneer spirit that created this country lives on.

Yet, we have grown so weary of Washington and Wall Street

We let ourselves become disconnected and are now paying the price.

 

We, the 99% ARE America!

This country was created as a Democracy

And it’s time to get it back on track.

 

The days of the career politician must be numbered.

The cycle of incompetence has to end.

For far too long we have been content to let someone else

Control our destiny.

Letting lawyers turn common sense into gibberish.

Letting bureaucrats create chaos inside simplicity.

Allowing all of them to condescend to us

That self-government was impossible without them.

Allowing a ruling class to rise on our backs.

 

We, the people, demand  reformation.

We hold the truths of our exclusion to be self-evident.

Reviews

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"The planet’s greatest nation drifts/To sail now void-of-course/It’s time to rise and lend a hand to act", You may want to make that stanza rhyme like the others of the separation.
I agree with you on a variety of levels, it goes without saying, having grown up in Arizona (if you know anything about the education here) and in poverty.
This poem is pretty straightforward, no grand metaphors, but that's expected for your audience. I would definitely see this making an excellent slam poem.
A question, though, is that because democracy was founded by the ideals of Adam Smith who said "It is not by the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but out of their regard to their own interest" has democracy ever been a fair and even political system? Even the greatest philosophers of old concluded that democracy was simply the lesser of all evils. I'm not a politician by any means, but I think it is a damned good idea to take America, with the heart of Marx, trash democracy and install communism. See, America is a wealthy nation in itself, but that's in the hands of the select few. With that spread out across the masses we achieve a higher state of social being as a whole. I don't even know if this is relevant. You've got me ranting. I suppose that shows the capability of the poem, at least, yes?