Third Populist Manifesto from the book "The Dirt of Dispair" by Mark Lipman
Third Populist Manifesto
by Mark Lipman
The sons of another
Whitman awake
Retake the word
Retake the song
There is no time now
for sleeping till noon
in your shuttered rooms
There is no time now
as New York crumbles
beneath our feet
under the trampling
of a nation of sheep
as Kabul is wiped
off the map
as the Palestinian
follows in the footsteps
of the Native American
gone with the echoes
of a thousand mother’s cries
everyone asking “Why?”
Not for freedom
Not for democracy
But for a new kingdom
ruled by philanthropy
Yes, blood is thicker
than water
but not as thick
as oil
How many must still
be killed
to keep the drills
alive?
Where are the new Ginsbergs
the new Dylans
the voices of a new generation
with their cut-up jeans
and back packs?
Where are all the great
minds of today
Still roaming their
dark alleyways?
Yes, Ferlinghetti is still alive
but so too is Berlusconi
The usurper is still
in the House
And all the voices
remain silent
How many Kyotos
must be rejected?
How many Johannesburgs
over-ruled by a party of one?
How many rulers selected
and promises broken
before we stand up
and speak out
and take back
what should be ours
guaranteed by birth?
Whitman’s wild children
are all alive and well
So put down your glasses
and pick up your pens
Get on your buses
all going “Further”
And let your voices
be heard.
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