I Am # 3
i am, become...
i am the Roman gladiater,
the last Christian thrown to the lions.
the cop in riot squad gear,
the young woman arms linked
in the name of peace
whose skull he just crushed!
the Wall Street banker,
the man who just lost his job,
his company sold overseas,
the bottom line grows.
i am the cape, the bull,
the rage, and the sword.
the bank, the robber,
and the money just taken.
i am the Bill Of Rights burning,
and the vote that was bought.
i am the child going to bed hungry,
leftover food stinking in the trash.
i am coal dust, i am oil spill,
i am chemicals sprayed
and crops dusted...
i am nuclear fallout,
and the cry of despair.
i am America's angered roar,
i am, become...
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Bank Robber Man
I was walking down the street today
Just as somebody blew the doors off of the B of A
Just then I head them call my name
As I was thrown against the car
I was being framed
All units we've got our man
We've got the bank robber man
We don't need no reason
You're going in the can
You look like the bank robber man
I think you misunderstand
Do you think that I am the one that did it
Just because I'm tan?
Just then the officer at hand said
I don't give a damn that you are in a rock and roll band
All units we've got our man
We've got the bank robber man
We don't need no reason
You're going in the can
You look like the bank robber man
Just tell me what's going on ?
Can you tell me what I did wrong ?
Does busting me make you feel strong ?
Make you feel strong
All units we've got our man
We've got the bank robber man
We don't need no reason
You're going in the can
You look like the bank robber man
song performed by by Lenny Kravitz from Lenny
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Vote for the Future of Big Bird
Please vote for the future of our children.
Vote to fund PBS, an oasis of knowledge, get even
On Election Day. Vote for Sesame Street,
Vote for Main Street, not Wall Street.
Vote for the re-election of the President,
Who supports student loans for our college students.
Vote for the man who is a strong proponent
Of investing in America, and in the future of our citizens.
The Hedge Fund Managers have sufficient money;
The wealthy ought to pay their fair share of taxes accordingly.
Vote for Big Bird and Main Street,
An tell Wall Street that the party is over,
No more business as usual; it is over.
Give a chance to Big Bird and Main Street.
poem by Hebert Logerie
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Bought And Sold
Bought and sold.
Bought,
And sold.
Bought and sold...
As if no feelings I keep.
But deep inside I'm touched.
Nothing here is cheaply rushed.
Bought and sold...
On what to me has been told.
Not me I'm not of mush.
Nor easily crushed to dust.
Excesses on the cheapness of life,
Has made a weakness increase...
And,
Bought and sold.
Bought,
And sold.
Bought and sold.
Too many given anything.
Just to say they've gotten a piece,
To be...
Bought and sold.
Bought and sold...
On what to me has been told.
Not me I'm not of mush.
Nor easily crushed to dust.
Bought and sold...
As if no feelings I keep.
But deep inside I'm touched.
Nothing here is cheaply rushed.
Too many people take for granted and accept too easily.
To be sold,
On what they're told.
Too many people take for granted and accept too easily.
Bought and sold,
On what they're told.
Too many people take for granted and accept too easily.
To be sold,
On what they're told.
Bought and sold,
On what they're told.
Just...
To sell.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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A Sparrow's Thoughts... (Number Seven)
when we sit numbly staring
at the six o'clock news...
at the cops in riot gear
dispersing the student protesters...
protesting against Wall Street excess,
against the greed of big business,
against the destructive thrusts of big oil,
against the wars over seas...
against human rights being taken,
against the lie we're being fed...
when these young people are beaten,
gassed, and arrested for standing up
for their ideals of freedom...
do we remember that these are our children?
do we know?
even more, do we remember,
when we were young and believed?
the anti-war protests,
the civil rights marches,
women's rights, farmworker's rights...
when we dared to believe we could
change the world...
we live again in our children!
do we understand this?
are we just going to sit still and watch?
are we dead?
poem by Eric Cockrell
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The Courtroom Is Empty
the courtroom is empty,
the gavel untouched.
no hands on the book,
no jury of twelve.
(and the hands of the clock
have stopped!)
small children killed, tossed in the trash,
women abused, old people hungry, alone.
young girls sold into slavery
young boys sold into war
homeless ghosts walk the halls,
without hope in man or God.
and there's no sound, no feeling,
not even a breath of air
(and the hands of the clock
have stopped!)
an American tragedy,
or just human tragedy.
justice bought and sold,
afforded by just the few.
the wheels of Wall Street turn,
politicians barter with lives.
drinking the blood of the babies
that will never be born!
the takers keep taking,
and the honest man falls
to die nameless in the ditch,
covered by ashes and dust.
and there's no sound, no feeling,
not even a breath of air.
(the hands of the clock
have stopped!)
the courtroom is empty
poem by Eric Cockrell
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My Washington Woman
The wages of an unskilled working man never paid enough
From time to time a nickel on a race keeps him from giving up
A blue collared man in Seattle never lives on white collared street
But there was food on the table for my Washington woman and me
The work slowed down and the one day
The foreman laid me off
That night in a tavern down on my last dime
I met a girl from Arkensal
Her daddy was a banker in Little Rock
She had a mansion on white collared street
The next morning my Washington woman woke up without me
From city to city, and state to state, I get her in shame
My Washington woman had six months left
Before out child would bring her pain
That Arkensal woman hurt me
As we crossed the Arkensal line
But the arms of Seattle
Are the arms that kept huggin' mine
For year I have basked in expensive wines
Taste champagne every day
I gave up all the things I loved
For all these things I hate
I locked up all of her forgiveness, the day I set myself free
And the heart of my Washington woman stopped beating for me
My Washington woman sends me a letter every once in a while
Inside a folded wordless page is a picture of my child
All but words, the room grows cold with a feeling of jealousy
And there's a silence between
My Arkensal woman and me
song performed by by Kenny Rogers
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Would You Believe It?
One year ago I wished that I
A banker great might be
With a hundred million dollars
And financial majesty;
A mighty Wall Street banker
With a whopping lot of power
And an income of somewhere around
A thousand plunks per hour;
A solid Wall Street banker
With securities in sacks
And with clever men to show me
How to pay no income tax;
A wealthy Wall Street banker
Who raked in cash like hay;
I wished that just a year ago—
And I wish the same today.
poem by Ellis Parker Butler
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I Am (Continued)
i am, become...
i am the lonesome wail
of streets gone empty,
of factories deserted,
of shops closed down.
i am the abortion clinic bombed
by the right wing fanatic,
and the baby left with a baby
that she cannot raise.
i am the food pantry,
the mission, the soup line...
my faces used to be your neighbors.
i am the tractor rusted in the snow,
the well gone dry...
i am the young gay couple
wanting so much to marry,
i am the fundamentalist afraid
of anything i dont understand.
i am the heroin addict
on the endless stoop,
i am the black child growing up
in a neighborhood terrorized.
i am the immigrant looking for work,
i am the crops left rotting in the fields...
i am the bedpan changer, the floor sweeper,
and the emergency room nurse...
i am the single mom,
food stamps, and no work...
the young man who drives
the old woman out to vote.
i am the balled up fist,
the set lip, the phallic rose...
i am America exploding!
i am, become...
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Atomic Insanity Bomb
America, we're drained of enthusiasm for you
America, why this meaningless war?
America, you are no longer beautiful
America, when will you see the light?
When will you call peace and dance and sing
When will you look in the mirror
and see the menace you have become?
When will you read the philosophies of God
that say Thou Shalt Not Kill?
America, when will you open your eyes?
America, why do you dye the shores red?
Why are the guns loaded with skulls?
Why do you leave your brothers behind
To charge bull-like at a cloth too large for you?
America, why are you putting a gun to your head?
America, stop killing me I'm not
Innocent, not Guilty
AMERICA STOP PUSHING!
America don't liberate me I'm already independent.
America I refuse to give up my rights
I refuse to give up others' rights
America don't reject your own
America the HATE is growing
They're rising up growing
America, let the prisoners go
The scholars of war in peace in hate in freedom
The Ginsbergs and Kerouacs and Dickesons and Whitmans
Of generations past
Free the ones whose philosophies peace it together
America your war is at home
America what is your motto?
Mission is not accomplished
It has just started.
America you have life to give,
not take away.
America, you deserve this war
America, my love for you is gone
America, monster, stop your screaming slashing rage
Look into your past
America LEARN from your mistakes
America, make it continue
AMERICA MAKE IT STOP
poem by Lex Newman
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Student Demonstration Time
Starting out with berkeley free speech
And later on at peoples park
The winds of change fanned into flames
Student demonstrations spark
Down to isla vista where police felt so harassed
They called the special riot squad of the l. a. county sheriff
Well theres a riot going on
Theres a riot going on
Theres a riot going on
Student demonstration time
The violence spread down south to where jackson state brothers
Learned not to say nasty things about southern policemens mothers
Nothing much was said about it and really next to nothing done
The pen is mightier than the sword, but no match for a gun
Well theres a riot going on
Theres a riot going on
Well theres a riot going on
cause its student demonstration time
America was stunned on may 4, 1970
When rally turned to riot up at kent state university
They said the students scared the guard
Though the troops were battle dressed
Four martyrs earned a new degree
The bachelor of bullets
I know were all fed up with useless wars and racial strife
But next time theres a riot, well, you best stay out of sight
Well theres a riot going on
Theres a riot going on
Well theres a riot going on
Student demonstration time
Stay away when theres a riot going on
Student demonstration
Stay away when theres a riot going on
Student demonstration
Stay away when theres a riot going on
Student demonstration
Stay away when theres a riot going on
Its student demonstration
Stay away when theres a riot going on
Student demonstration
Stay away when theres a riot going on
Student demonstration
Stay away when theres a riot going on
Its student demonstration
Stay away when theres a riot going on
Student demonstration
song performed by by Beach Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sampson's Lion
The lion that on Sampson roared,
And thirsted for his blood;
With honey afterwards was stored,
And furnished him with food.
Believers, as they pace along,
With many lions meet;
But gather sweetness from the strong,
And from the eater, meat.
The lions rage and roar in vain,
For Jesus is their shield;
Their losses prove a certain gain,
Their troubles comfort yield.
The world and Satan join their strength,
To fill their souls with fears;
But crops of joy they reap at length,
From what they sow in tears.
Afflictions make them love the word,
Stir up their hearts to prayer;
And many precious proofs afford,
Of their Redeemer's care.
The lions roar but cannot kill,
Then fear them not, my friends,
They bring us, though against their will,
The honey Jesus sends.
poem by John Newton
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O My Soul...
where have you gone,
o my soul...
where have you gone?
are you lost in the tears
of a thousand faces
blackened by hunger?
in the cries of the dying?
of the homeless?
in the defiant feet
of those standing in line?
the unemployment line?
the soup line?
the line just outside
the prison walls?
in the lover left desperate,
who takes his own life?
in the students beaten,
who stood up for freedom?
in the young man hated,
for the color of his skin?
in the young woman sold
on the lonesome street corner?
in the windowless offices
where lives and deaths are decided?
in the hole behind the gun,
eyes hard as steel?
in the bare apartment,
where the children are cold and hungry?
on the corner, 'neath the bridge,
in the back of the car?
where have you gone,
o my soul...
where have you gone?
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Lilly-Willy-Woken
Bill Vining had a sorrel colt
Some two years old or more,
But the colt was wild as a mountain deer
And a bridle never wore;
And so one day,
Bill took his colt
named Lilly Willy Woken,
And whipp'd him till his stubborn will
And the whiplash both were broken!
Broke! Broke! Broken!
Your stubborn will is broken
You will dance no more on the sable floor,
O Lilly Willy Woken!
Bill Vining was a banker --
He had a bag of gold;
And not only uncurrent coin,
But customers he sold,
But while he went to break his colt
Young Lilly Willy Woken
His teller told, with his bag of gold
And thus the bank was broken.
Broke! Broke! Broken
Your master's bank is broken!
He will count no more his profits o'er
O Lilly Willy Woken!
Bill Vining was a lover --
He had a lady fair,
Who had said thro' life she'd be his wife
And his bag of gold would share;
But when she saw that all was lost,
Save Lilly Willy Woken,
She felt inclined to change her mind
And so his heart was broken.
Broke! Broke! Broken
Your master's heart is broken!
He will sing no more at his lady's door,
O Lilly Willy Woken!
Bill Vining was a mourner --
He had a host of woes,
And grave despair was pictured where
A smile did once repose.
And so he took the halter off
From Lilly Willy Woken,
And from a shelf he hung himself
And thus his neck was broken!
Broke! Broke! Broken
Your master's neck is broken!
And you see what came of a stubborn frame
O Lilly Willy Woken!
poem by Henry Clay Work
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Why, Why, And Why?
another tree cut down,
another tanker filled with oil.
another book gets banned,
another protest on American soil.
another politician lies,
another banker forecloses.
another family on the street,
another small business closes.
another mill shut down,
another farm goes bank.
another river polluted,
can you put that in your tank?
another child becomes an addict,
another young girl sold like meat.
another old man dies....
dancing to the beat....
why, why, and why?
cant you hear your children cry?
are we too beat down to try?
the eagle spreads its wings...
.........and flies!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Freedom Demands Action!
this be not a free country...
as long as one child goes hungry,
one child cant afford to go to school....
as long as there are unemployment lines,
as long as there are vacant houses,
and homeless families.
as long as our sons and daughters
are sacrificed to the gods of war.
as long as our elderly cant get medical care.
as long as they burn and ban books,
as long as one is censored for speaking truth....
as long as the religion we profess
denies the rights of other religions.
as long as the young gay couple,
who want to adopt a child,
a child that no one wants...
cant get married.
as long as justice is bought and sold,
and is different for different colors.
freedom demands action!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Within the Alamo
He drew a straight line
Across the dirt floor:
Within, it was death-still--
Without, was a roar
And a scream of the trumpets:
Within, was a Word--
And a line drawn clean
By the sweep of a sword.
No help was coming, now--
That hope was done.
No more the free air,
no more the sun
Bright on the blue leagues
Of buffalo-clover.
Travis drew a line
And they all crossed over.
Travis had a wife at home,
Travis was young;
Travis had a little boy
Whose tight arms clung,
But Travis saw a far light
Shining before:
Travis drew a sword-cut
Across the dirt floor.
And now the old fort stands
Placid and dim,
Blinking and dreaming
Of them and of him;
And now past the Plaza
Other tides roar,
since Travis wrote "Valor"
Across the sand floor,
And the guns they will rust,
And the captains will go,
And an end come at last
To the wars that we know,
But as long as there travails
A Spirit in man,
In a war that was ancient
Before Time began,
Here will the brave come
To read a high Word--
Cut clean in the dust
By the stroke of a sword.
poem by Karle Wilson Baker
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The Miniature Woman
The Blue-Eyed Giant, the Miniature Woman
and the Honeysuckle
He was a blue-eyed giant,
He loved a miniature woman.
The woman's dream was of a miniature house
with a garden where honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house.
The giant loved like a giant,
and his hands were used to such big things
that the giant could not
make the building,
could not knock on the door
of the garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
at that house.
He was a blue-eyed giant,
he loved a miniature woman,
a mini miniature woman.
The woman was hungry for comfort
and tired of the giant's long strides.
And bye bye off she went to the embraces of a rich dwarf with a garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house.
Now the blue-eyed giant realizes,
a giant isn't even a graveyard for love:
in the garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house...
poem by Nazim Hikmet
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A Child Is Dying
for every tree you cut down,
a child is dying.
for every barrel of oil that
you drill and spill,
a child is dying.
for every coal mine you
rape the earth with,
a child is dying.
for all the nuclear waste
you cannot dispose of,
a child is dying.
for every country you bomb,
a child is dying.
for every chemical you spray
on your vegetables,
a child is dying.
for every river you dam & drain,
a child is dying.
for every oil field you own,
a child is dying.
for every animal you drive
to the brink of extinction,
a child is dying.
for every smokestack, every sweatshop,
and every synthetic thought,
a child is dying.
for every tree you cut down....
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Lions
Lions like to eat
and to them meat is meat,
and the difference
between wild beast and man
does not matter at all.
When the Romans fed
Christians to the hungry beasts,
they ate them without
any remorse
and the difference
between Christian and sinner
did not matter at all.
When tourists leave their vehicle
in a animal park,
lions will kill and eat them
without any consideration
to chairman, president or millionaire;
like any natural prey.
Once a angel made lions
play like kittens with Daniel,
but before his enemies
touched the bottom
of the den,
they were broken into pieces.
[Reference=>“22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocence was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
24 And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.” Daniel 6.22+24
poem by Gert Strydom
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Daddy, Come Home!
a young woman holding
two babies stands by
a soldier's grave...
while the would be politicians
keep pimping for the vote,
and Wall Street keeps on
doing business as usual.
with her foot she brushes
the leaves from the marker...
and the oldest child whispers,
daddy, come home!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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