Ready, Set...

You said follow
So look out, here I go
Straight into the arms of a question mark
Little sparks at my feet for the lonely dark
But hark I hear a long forgotten song
Somewhere far off, as it grows strong,
Guess it's here I go, time to join along...

Flint and Steel

As a child, on the cusp of adolescence, I watched in awestruck horror as this empire was revealed to be vulnerable. Cracks formed in the walls of our castle and we, in silence, felt the sudden sting. Our leaders, appearing baffled, tripped over explanations and cover-ups, calling on us peasants to gather around symbols and material goods. Buy away the burden of guilt and questions.

I remember the news those nights, back when they actually cared to show us where the money went. Explosions like fireworks shot forth across some distant desert sky, and vengeance would be ours. The next day we would get out the broom of patriotism and shoo the facts under the rug. We destroyed hospitals, homes, families. But our leaders continued to give us reasons, continued to simplify the calls for unity, even when no evidence could be found to further justify their claims for lethal force.

As I grew older, it was no longer simply the older brothers, distant relatives, or neighbors sons, but my own peers who left to fight. Vague motivations such as freedom, democracy, and duty filled the lips of those who knew they couldn't pay for college where the government might. As more and more of "our side" and "their side" died, the line between justice and commerce blurred. The war had spread in relative silence to so many fronts that it was only a matter of time before the violence came back around and hit us at home.

All this time, as the elected officials squabbled over party ties and monetary backers, leaders rising and falling only to be replaced by differently dressed clones, the true rulers, the corporate bosses, worked their tentacles into the minds of the populous. Until the intellectual and economic balancing act of the past decades finally caught a snare, and the gamble of the nation came back empty.

Now the lines have been drawn. There are those who live in quiet complacency, but daily the tension rises. Harder and harder to ignore are the cries of the oppressed and downtrodden. As the mighty rich waste and cheat and stomp all across the land, those that are enslaved in debt and empty promises must rise and say enough. The empire is going to fall. Either you are going with it, or you must realize that its ways are empty. We are in the streets. We are you. We are in the streets. Are you with us?

Stitches in Dawn

The brightest lights are behind closed eyes
And hunger tastes so deeply sweet
What withers within this crippled grip
Never pleases like what I cannot reach

And when that faint hint of dawn appears
Revealed through slitted window pane
It never holds such promises
As it did last night for tired brain

Once again, I spent all night
Lost in the turns of another's song
Each ever after to bring me back
To my disappointing ever on

Yet still I'll hope and nearly hope
Till feet are sore and throat too dry
To sing the tune that I once knew
So I'll make it up right till I die

U?S?A?

Now I wouldn't suspect that those who stand so erect
With their hands over their hearts are very likely to object
But if I then must subject myself to this neglect
Just to be patriotic, I'd rather you just inject
That poison into my veins right now and not later
Before I become too cynical or another old hater
Watch it flow through the I.V. as I wriggle wildly
Boy, it'd be a sight to see, or maybe they'll just fry me
For now they simply ask that I stay silent so politely
And hope that I stay mildly excited by the thriving
Entertainment they've provided on call
And by they I mean we, because we pay for it all
But mostly we just pay for all the guns overseas
What's some blood in the sand for the gas in our SUVs
Peace is cheaper but we'd rather the reaper be on our payroll
Cashing in the check that bounces debt to dig a bigger hole
Hoping no one notices that we've replaced the government
With corporations that we pay to outsource who will govern it
And then inflate the hype about who loves us and who hates us, why?
So we can say it all makes sense why our neighbors' sons all had to die
But back at home their peers are told to study hard for a career
Then graduate to get in line and find that there are no jobs here
So pack it up and pack it in
Then spend and spend and spend again
Till all that's left is cake and circus
Generation: where's my purpose?