Saturday, December 08, 2018

greens, socialists, capitalists, & poetic license


i like to start with the things
we might agree on

with very few exceptions
capital is a greasy machine
like a field of tanks
it'll roll right over every flora & fauna
mistook for an enemy
the oily politicians of the R & D variety
(not research & development)
will line their brooks brothers suits
overstuffed mansion cushions
and off-shore bank accounts
with the big payoffs
a return on investment
the dollar has a million faces
and bodies to hide

with very few exceptions
socialists like to think
every time they stand on a street corner
people will listen
after all the class nature of every struggle
leads to a sharpening of contradictions
and all the obvious truths that flow from that
     i beg to differ
maybe fundamentally even
all of the logic fails to consider
the egos and vengeance of some individuals
known as humans
(only humans are capable of hatred)
     no
i won't bore you with all the names
masquerading as socialists
dwelling in lands and vanguards
of crooked tongues
     even torture

with no exceptions
being a green
is more than art and politics
always a work in progress
a caretaker without quixotic quest
an organizer of ideas
but not a know-it-all
one who will stand on a street corner
with an open hand
a listener above the shouting
but nonetheless a screamer
in defense of heart and mind
using green tinted glasses
instead of rose colored ones
shading out the fakers and impostors
still looking for a universal key
to unlock salvation or a new nonprofit
balance is never binary
but collaborative
there is always a muse
on every horizon
if you scan all dimensions
when the forest speaks
     heed
when the original people speak
     learn
after the glaciers
after the freshwater lakes and rivers
when the sun nods off into the haze
after the mountains and hills
slide over the last hollow
after the seas rise and split
your phony nation-state borders
being green suddenly
     belatedly
is no longer academic
     has never been ivory tower
always too late for dogma
but don't take my word for it
leave your flag at home

bring only what is real

--- e b bortz

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