Fourth of July Poem by A D Winans


       FOURTH OF JULY POEM
                                                
stepped on, pissed on
       cheated and abused
       taken advantage of blue collar man
       caught up in the American scam
       don’t tell me anyone
       can be anything they want to be
       if they put their mind to it

       save your message for
       the deaf dumb and blind
       it’ll never sell in the ghetto
       or to the immigrants
       you’ve  turned your back on

       take your message to the church
       tell it to the men on death row
       tell it to the starving poor
       tell it to the sick and lame
       tell it to the rich folks
       tell it to the politicians
       tell it to the serial killers
       tell it to Wall Street
       tell it to the man on the gallows
       tell it to the chiseled faces
       on Mount Rushmore
       tell it to the street whore
       tell it to the last wino
       on the bowery

       tell it to the banker
       tell it to the butcher
       tell it to the unemployed
       tell it to the circus clown
       tell it to the insane
       tell it to the outlaw
       tell it to the panhandler
       tell it to the con man
       tell it to the baby
       found stuffed
       in a garbage can

       tell it to the displaced
       factory worker
       tell it to the elderly
       tell it to the last space alien
       hiding out in Roswell
       tell it to the militia
       tell it to the FBI sharpshooters
       at Ruby Ridge 
       tell it to the arsonists
       at Waco, Texas

       tell it to the junkie
       with dry heaves
       tell it to the farm worker
       tell it to the dishwasher
       tell it to the orderlies
       tell it to the flag waver
       tell it to the Chinese peasant
       toiling in the rice fields
       for a dollar a day

       tell it to the garment worker
       slaving away in sweat shops
       in Chinatown
       and the Latin Quarter
       tell it to the garbage man
       tell it to big business
       tell it to the Fascist Congress
       tell it to the oil barons
       tell it to the tobacco merchants
       tell it to the fur industry
       who club baby seals to death
       for the clothing merchants

       tell it to the molested children
       tell it to the priests
       who stole their innocence
       tell it to the battered wives of America
       tell it to the pharmacy industry
       growing rich off the sick and lame
       tell it to the millions of people
       dying from air pollution
       in Mexico, China and India

       tell it to the man on his deathbed
       not sure why he lived
       or what he is dying for
       tell it to Jesus Christ
       shout it to the stars
       line the traitors up against the wall
       rewrite the Ten Commandments
       and start all over again

by A D Winans

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