Two Cents

A poem about the clash between the Left, the Right and the Truth.

America is the greatest country on the face of the Earth
Holy man, how much is that wholly trite sentiment worth?

Two cents, an amount that every God-fearing Yankee owns
From the hungry crowd elicited are heaps of weary groans

But from the likes of anarchists, xenophobes and conspiracy nuts
All are patriotic but with varying degrees of balls and guts

From the scrambled dissent on the left
to the scrambled edification on the right

Sometimes their patriotic stances
cannot be sifted out
like the distinction between day and night

Patriotic dissent is protected speech by the amendment that came first
Xenophobic zeal with exclusion clauses is protected, even if it can be worse

But even two cents worth of patriotism can fan the flames
And then the police state can play their fantasy war games

And the trinity of sides collide
with the power of five thousand men
and the inexorable process,
this dissenting into descent,
resumes all over again

Or vice-versa, whichever way you swing
Lost in the mindless violence is one thing

The lowest common denominator, the right is there
Like a brown stain that befouls a pair of unspoiled underwear

Speak freely, whether it is right, wrong or otherwise
Even if you are lauded, proved thoughtful or outright despised

These activist freaks run their motors on emotional kerosene
There is just black and white, no other color in between

But a more sober observer might note
Patriotism is more than a two-sided coat

Both sides appear divergent on the surface edge
But deep underneath that splitting wedge

Is an equal sign telling them something sane
Your emotions are making you circle the drain

Put down your animosities and just let it be
And then we can strive for that harmony

In several years, all sides will proclaim conspiracy
The police state assassinated her, that bad company

And the process resumes once more without recompense
See it in the theater that charges only two cents

Reviews

[Rene Velez]

yes a circus in the making or has it already been made? LOL, at the end of the day what does it really cost...thanks for sharing this it's quite the poem, your good with words