Regardless of the outcome, we are all participants.

Thousands of citizens
Shouting in the streets,
Airing their grievances,
Seeking restitution,
Demanding change.

Water cannon and teargas
Flood the confrontations.
Death curls up from rifle barrels.
Muffles irksome weeping,
Insists an end to childish aspirations
And a litany of random
And annoying criticisms and complaints.

Father, the disciplinarian parent,
Righteous in his position,
Demands more,
Expects less.
Rules with impunity,
Knowing full well
The tenuous boundaries of his own situation.

Oppression feeds from countless hands,
Power puts food in mouth and roof over head,
Insists loyalty in recompense;
Ingrates incomprehensible,
Indulgence out of the question.

When all else fails,
Strike up the band,
Delineate the enemy,
The reason for the outcry;
Thugs that kill our babies
Must be hunted down like dogs!

Marching now to marshal law,
The battle lines grow blurry.
The skirmishes increase.
The death toll undisclosed.

And in this tack, solution,
Everyone else the enemy,
Anyone of suspicion,
Anyone unfamiliar,
Another ally not to trust.

The refugees are fleeing,
Freeing children from the chaos.
Faced with lost identity,
Knowing it’s the only way to stay alive.

Now, we talk in whispers,
Sitting in our kitchens,
Respectful and well mannered,
Too refined to join the ruckus,
Our parents disapproving

All that noise!




Michael S. True
9-17-13