Changed

They came, footsteps crunching out
A slow rolling beat.
The tolling thud of thunder
Thumping in time
To their low chant.
They did not shout for change
They had shouted too often before.
The disenfranchised and the forgotten
Held banners woven of their tattered dreams
Stitched with tears and lined with broken promises.
On each face the battle marks of lives wasted
By men who knew it all
And knew it all could be taken for themselves.
Men who preached democracy,
The rotting carcass of a broken system,
Purporting to empower the people
While keeping them down.
Taking our power to decide from us
And calling it a mandate.
There were children in the crowd.
Who saw ahead a future as hard as their parents past.
All were resolute in the face of threats and weapons
They were laid out by bullets, gas canisters and riot gear.
Inside each and every one of them a minor miracle
Had fornicated with their last remaining hope.
The fucked up offspring of delusion and despair
drove them to die for a cause only they could believe in.
Fuck change. Fuck government.
Their legs pump as the stoic silence parts to angry venom
Peaceful protest finally gives up and dies
And rage spills out onto the streets.
Fists pump as sheer numbers push back men
Who until the last moment think they do their duty.
Angry words turn into angry action
And then there is change.

Some other day

Screaming at the sun -
as the sun descends,
Turning, toppling, twisting
as I reach the end.
Oxygen starved
and out of control,
Feeling like a prisoner
passed by for parole.

Lost and silent
and out of my mind,
Why argue with reason
when reason is blind.
Broken hearted
and man does it hurt,
Left like a spoon,
lying in the dirt.

Setting a benchmark
for crazed and confused,
When you leave yourself open
you're easily used.
Delerium stricken
you're strictly unkown.
A forgotten king
on an empty throne.