Today's Poem

The power of words

I am on the process of compiling all of the poems I have written over the years in preparation for getting them published. I stopped today at this one, written a few years ago, because it seemed so very relevant to right now. If you like this one, let me know. I have more on much the same theme.

A Flickering Candle

Politics has replaced reality;
Politicians live in another world. 
Their talk is the height of banality;
The proud banner of truth tightly furled.

There is something rotten in the Senate
Because its leader demands obeisance.
His lackeys need to be given the gate
Or, even better, charged with malfeasance.

What’s the point of demanding such power
When their false promises never come true
And all their vile schemes can naught but turn sour.
There has to be something that we can do.

The people, said the Founders, have the choice
To create a world that works for all.
It’s only their, not corporations’, voice
That can capture freedom’s clarion call.

Rise up! Our lives are in the balance pan.
We, who strongly believe in facts and truth,
Cannot sit idly by, as doubters can.
We must use our power: the voting booth.

Choose leaders that heed their weighty oaths
And shun those who speak with fingers crossed.
Stop these malevolent, cancerous growths
Before our hard-won rights are forever lost. 

Wake up before our stricken country dies.
Open your eyes to the rot we’ve let fester,
Growing out of neglect and hate and lies.
Hope lies in the heart of ev’ry protestor.

All people are created the same at birth.
All—black or white, rich or poor, gay or straight.
Now, make bigotry vanish from the Earth.
Speak up and act before it is too late.