Class Self-Defense

I found another one, but the search continues for the rest of the archive I was working on yesterday. This one needs work, but I really do like it thus far.

SuspecTed
Class Self-Defense

All the time we’ve spent on this failed experiment.
We celebrate the defeat of the dragons but I wonder where the serpent went?
The property we stole is completely fenced,
It will remain protected until the next thief takes a chance,
Then builds the fence thicker, higher, and now electrified
Until the life inside, barren cell to cell, has all but died.

Then we’ll have every right to fall back on our heels,
To sing songs of protest waving signs accusing those who lie cheat and steal.
It was ours first and this fair and square plot,
Sits vacantly inefficient for the reasons it was bought.

We have empires, skyscrapers, and portfolios to build,
With slum lords and land-rapers which will ultimately be our yield.
It’s finders-keepers so find what you can quick,
Put a claimed sign on it and make sure your front door is strong and thick.

Battle stations,
Raise the bridge and sound the alarm.
The peons have declared class warfare and they hope to do us harm.
Though these appear to have come completely unarmed.

Excuse me sir, I don’t mean this point to belabor,
But it’s been 200 years and you still don’t know your neighbors.
We’re not asking for all that you took here,
But could we borrow a cup from your mountain of sugar.

It would make our lives ever so sweeter,
To sit in the AC in the summer and in the winter next to the heater.
Again, I don’t mean to be a bother,
But I come on behalf of millions of my sisters and brothers, my mother and my father.

I may even be your son or daughter if you trace back,
So if you want to call off this whole thing or even the most recent attack.
It’s not class warfare, it’s class self-defense,
Discontinue to build these fences, and putting us in the trenches here and forever hence.
art
462 views 2 replies
Reply #1 Top
Ted,
This, perhaps not surprisingly, is my new favorite of your poems. The only thing I would suggest is that you make the dividing line clearer between the two narrators...it took a double take to see that it was two different people. Punctuation might even do the trick...

This poem has a very clear, well thought out vision. I, for one, understand and accept it.

There. I'm done being a stuffy critic. I kinda sound like an asshole up there. Hmm.
Chris
Reply #2 Top
That probably would make it stronger with a better division between them. I never really thought of it since I figured it would be clearer if I read it out loud depending on what I emphasized with my own voice.

Thanks for reading Chris.