RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS
Maduro’s
Betrayal
Simon
Bolivar was a great man
Leader
of the people’s revolution
Father
of Latin American democracy
He
dreamed of a free continent
Where
the poor were poor no more
Where
the power served the people
And
the people served themselves
After
decades of betrayal
By
the drivers of western wealth
The
rubber, fruit and oil barons
The
ones who stole their resources
And
left behind a poisoned land
A
leader rose in Venezuela
His
name was Hugo Chavez
He
held forth a dream and a promise
A
revival of the Bolivarian revolution
A
return of power to the people
An
end to soul-crushing poverty
An
embrace of true democracy
In
Venezuela and beyond
He
delivered on that dream
In
some measure for a while
He
delivered food and health care
He
gave rise to people’s hopes
But
the power of the privileged class
Forced
him to compromise
He
lost hold of the dream
He
lost hold of his principles
He
lost hold of his pride
The
nation he handed to his successor
Was
a shadow of what it was
No
longer a vibrant growing country
No
longer one of promise or of hope
Nicolas
Maduro took the reins and
Drove
the nation off a cliff
He
chose the way of power
He
chose the way of wealth
Now
the people of Venezuela suffer
In
hunger and desperation
Poverty
of spirit and of wealth
They
flee in masses to the north
Where
life can be no harder than it is
Nicolas
Maduro: Let go of your power
Let
go of your wealth
Retain
some semblance of your pride
Until
democracy is restored
There
is no hope
And
the Bolivarian revolution
Is
but a dream
