Wednesday, June 03, 2020

Outside Agitators

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Outside Agitators

At the end of the trail
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce
Stands with pride for his people
Saying: I will fight no more forever

At the end of a long bus ride
MLK sits in a Birmingham jail
And writes that justice is the rightful
Inheritance of all human beings

At the end of a dusty march
Cesar Chavez stands with the farmworkers
Of Solano and Bakersfield
To declare their right to organize

At the end of a long hard road
Steinbeck looks out across the great
Fields of plenty and proclaims the right
Of all men and women to live in dignity

At the end of a long futile campaign
To win final passage of the ERA
Bella Abzug declares that the age of
Gender inequality is over

In times of crisis at the end of the day
Leaders rise to the occasion
To calm a divided nation
To ease our collective pain
To bring us together
(if only for a moment)
To reassure and awaken our faith

At the end of a twitter rampage
Our president wonders aloud
If he can send his opponents to jail
If he can outlaw voting by mail
If he can order soldiers to crush
Protesters in the streets

In times of crisis
Leaders answer the call
Pretenders fall






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