Watching my friends and relatives
From the Way Back When
Posting their bumper sticker stupidities;
Acting like the newest recruits
To the Raging Rightwing Riders;
Wearing the black leather jackets and
Lacking only the Harleys
Beneath their withering white thighs.

Sorry I didn’t catch the Alzheimer’s
Yet. A guy my age shouldn’t be remembering
That most of you grew up on the pipe,
Wearing peace symbol doo-rags wrapped
Around your foreheads, burning draft cards,
And trashing the flag you swear
Is so beautiful today it’s worth watching
Other People’s Children die for in places
You’d never visit in a textbook

Okay, there’s that bitterness again, you say.
Instead, give us this day our daily bread:
We’ve evolved into family men of the sort
Who make this country run, who know
That free unfettered markets are the
Kind that lift all boats, including the scows
Of those who paint “Takers Not Makers”
On the bows when not standing on breadlines
Waiting for their entitlements like free
Health care for all. What is this? Europe?

Some of you were union men. You know, the type who went
On strike against the bosses for higher wages and free health care;
The ones who went into a hospital and had an
Aneurysm removed from your neck and never saw a bill
For aspirin; the ones whose fatherless mothers lived month to month
Waiting for that green government check to arrive the first Monday
Of every month just so you could eat a hamburger.

But I get it; we all evolve. Darwin had that one right.
We morph into creatures of refinement and discernment
Who can disregard our histories and pretend to
The unknowing that all we have came only from
The work of these two big hands and these ten busy fingers.

That there are people who believe this just goes to show:
Except for the toxic result, there is something inside so many
Willing to follow these old Jim Joneses into the jungle with
Eyes Wide Open.

And there to ladle from the vat of
Long Island Iced Teas and smack their lips and say,
Oh what a sweet, sweet taste this is.

As if it always was. As if the liquor was never poisoned.

07/21/2013

Author's Note: Yep, a rant. Seen too many things on a certain social media site posted by people who should know better than to let this one lie. If it ain't you, don't take offense.

Posted on 07/21/2013
Copyright © 2025 Ken Harnisch