This is for the people who were forgotten,
This is for the people who went bad and rotten.
This is for the people living in cells
Or wake to the whistling of falling bombshells.
This is for the people who nightly retire
To an aluminum shack and a newspaper fire.
This is for the children with nothing to eat
Who were born in shackles on the ghetto street.
This is for the slaves who toiled in the sun
Or were herded along at the barrel of a gun.
This is for the prisoners who writhe and scream
Until they repent for the American Dream.
This is for the mother who is lying in bed
And fears, any moment, that her son might be dead.
This is for the people that are living a lie,
Who’ve never been told
That you must “work, spend, and die!”
Author notes
The last four words are in quotation marks because i read them on a bathroom wall in a seattle bookstore before an open mike. they are the inspiration for the entire poem.
Comments
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Great poem. Every now and then, I stop whatever I'm doing at work and think about hawking at a pawn shop and going to a Robinson Crusoe-esque desert island. The hive surely wouldn't miss one less bee. Who said we all have to contribute to the GNP every day of our lives and "tip toe through life so we can arrive at death comfortably"? Capitalism certainly has had and will continue to have it's casualties. Some very powerful words and images here. Thanks.
Mark
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a good strong poem here, the flow is good and the rhyme smooth, and though the last two lines deviate a little from the rest i think it works within the poem.
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This is awesome. Keep up the good work
~ Brook
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hey this i awesum! tre to everyword and very rebellious. i like it!
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