current events poems

At What Price | j.lewis

at what price

trying to calculate the cost of intangibles
is a fool’s errand on a good day
wasting everyone’s time and attention
when both could be better spent
improving the lives of all citizens
of the place we claim as home

but in yet another urgent,
begging-for-my-scant-change email,
i find that freedom still has a price
though it seems to fluctuate
with mood and argument

today, the low, low price
of freedom and democracy
is a mere three dollars (american)
rushed to some online entity
that wants to hold three other entities
‘accountable for cowardice’
in an upcoming election

and me? i’m just callous enough
to believe that it will take more
than three portraits of george
to stem the torrent of disregard
that currently sweeps through
our highest halls of power

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Update | Stan Morrison

you say everything is still okay
yet I’m not seeing it that way
what happened to compassion
now that it’s out of fashion

kindness and sharing have vanished
for the poor and those speaking spanish
swahili, yoruba, amharic and arabic
africans, inuit, hindi and aramaic

whatever happened to convivencia
tolerance, intelligence and paciencia
if you’re red, yellow, black or brown
is it really safe for you to hang around

everyone’s hoping for another chance
for a hero to come by and take a stance
to rekindle all the love that’s in our hearts
a nation of immigrants can play kinder parts

Prayer for Donnie at the End of the Line | Stan Morrison

I’m just a lonesome narcissistic salesman
Wandering this country. hawking my wares
Selling my useless medicines. miracle cures
And the purple pills to get everything right
Wherever I travel I attract needy crowds
Loving good news no matter how absurd
But now I seem to be running out of road
Dear Daddy, please help your simple son
Such a close call, near the end of the line

My helpless weak and sinful sales son
Don’t dare try your own miracle cures
You’re worse off than the needy crowds
I’m all out of the untraceable solutions
I see that you have now run out of road
So long, sappy, this is the end of the line

Sermon on the Mount Revisited | Stan Morrison

Do you believe in life after birth
Are you guided by hatred, faith,
Bolstered by boundless certainty
Then go to the back of the line
Start over with fetal optimism
Loving kindness and good deeds
Fill the interval with true surprises
You will be so glad you finally did

Make America Good Again | Stan Morrison

Jerk at all trades
Telling us it’s a win
Failing all grades
While doing us in
Coward and weakling
Tweeting us to riot
Morbidly obese king
We don’t have to buy it
No school transcripts
And no tax returns
Surrounded by misfits
While the US yearns
No more years

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