Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The American Litany



Do you remember yesterday? 
When the economy wasn’t all that bad -
We earned a lot more pay,
Your boss didn’t make you mad.

Do you recall manifest destiny?
Well it got really lost
In the red tape of bureaucracy
Not to mention the cost.

Sing the American Litany
Of Boredom and Frustration.
Gone is our democracy,
We’re so used to demoralization.

The twilight's last gleaming
Allows us to remember,
We all wake up screaming
From our dreamless slumber.

Living in acid rain
And in the canal of love.
Trying to avoid the pain
That falls from above.

Blowing up in the air
Isn’t much fun.
It isn’t fair
To be in the sight of a gun.

Singing the American Litany
Of Progress and Fear.
A new century is here,
It arrived in a nightmare.

Living in Space Age Technology,
Gone are old traditions,
Along with our theology
As the ancient prophets have predicted.

In the jungle, desert, or in the snow,
We may have to go to war.
The enemy is getting low
And going way too far.

With pen in hand
We write our memos,
Rather than making a stand,
We send them over the radio.

Singing the American Litany
Of Power and Fright
Afraid that when the music is over
No one will be left to blow out the lights.

Capitalism is dead,
Replaced by commercialism.
When the results are read,
The insult is materialism.

The kids are turning to punk,
Letting out all their anger.
Gone is disco and funk.
Everyone is a stranger.

You have to be in fashion,
You make your own style,
Love with full passion.
If you want to be around a while.

Singing the American Litany
Of Money and Looks.
Forget all the sages,
Burn all the books.

© By R. A. Barbere

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