sonnivhek's activist poem

[Boomer Chick]

This is not my truth
_________________

This is not my truth
this is our truth
for all the promises broken
for all the fear and hatred
for all the lies and deceptions
for all the flag draped coffins
for all the innocents slaughtered
what will you do to bear witness?

This is not my pain
this is our pain
in East LA I delivered a sandwich
to a homeless man
I saw cops harassing an old lady
with a bag full of aluminum cans
I saw Hispanic children using a garbage dump
as a playground
I saw hopelessness and fear
in the eyes of broken black man
I saw teenaged junkies
shooting up on the steps
of a rotting old tenement
that bore the sign
"Paradise Apartments"
I saw a one armed veteran
looking for his dinner
in a filthy dumpster
in the back of a restaurant
that advertised
as a part of its slogan
"all that you can eat"
and I ask you again
what will you do to bear witness?

This is not my freedom
this is our freedom
and it is at risk
from the very people
who swore an oath to defend it
and it is in need of defending
so you had better get to it brothers
and sisters you had better get to it
because it is up to all of us now
it is up to us and there is no one else
because every person languishing away
without hope of a trial
or of confronting their accusers
is an affront to the constitution
and true patriotism
has nothing to do with sound bites
or the flying of the American flag

Great truths that we once proclaimed
to be self evident
are under attack
by greedy and self serving men
who feed us lies and propaganda
in the name of democracy
as if it were a breakfast cereal
that we were all addicted to
like the oil in the barrels
and the barrels of our guns
and I ask you one last time
what will you do to bear witness?
because this is not my country
this is our country
this is not my world
this is our world
this is not my problem
this is our problem
and this is not my truth

[Boomer Chick]

I don't recognize this land as mine.



Now I live in a land where, among all

the tremendous challenges facing us, the

most important thing to the majority

of its citizens is the prevention of

gay marriage.



I live among people who believe that

evolution and global warming are

science fiction concepts out of

Star Trek.



I live among people who believe that

fiscal responsibility is an outdated

idea, and that trillion dollar deficits

are perfectly fine, so long as they

don't have to pay for it themselves.



I live in a land where the economic

prosperity of those who have the

least is sacrificed for the further

enrichment of those who have

nearly all.



I live in a country where the rights of its

citizens, long taken for granted, are in

danger of being eroded, piece by piece

by a powerful corporate government with

it's own hidden agenda.



I live in a land where pre-emptive war and

nation building have replaced negotiation,

diplomacy, and multi-national cooperation

as the foreign policies of choice.



I live in a culture where bravado, arrogance,

greed, and nationalism are the most highly

prized characteristics of its leaders.



I live in a country ruled by fear, where the

majority of its inhabitants are willingly

brought into the fold via a bombardment of

bombastic propaganda that appeals to the

basest instincts of it's citizens, and many

of the rest are bought.



I live in a country where jingoism and hatred

of those who are different has become the norm,

while objectivity, introspection, and rational

thought are considered signs of weakness.



I look at my country with open eyes, and I

wonder about the future.



I ponder the same questions that many others

find themselves now asking:



Stay and fight to the bitter end?

Or flee while there's still time?



In our disappointment, disillusionment, and

grief, we ask ourselves- have all our efforts

been in vain?



I think that there is nowhere to run to, and

no place to hide from the effects of this regime.



And as citizens of this nation we have no

greater responsibility then to rebel against

the brain washing of it's people and the

corruption of it's resources.



As difficult as it may seem, we owe nothing

less then all that we can do to bring about

the changes we so strongly claim to stand for.



So I for one will stay and fight.



But I find that I am fighting in a foreign land.

And I do not ever see an end in sight.