Ship of Fools

Ship of Fools

what is it with me
I can’t get an email
with juvenile bumper stickers
of presidential candidates
without popping a vein
why do I give a damn
about those 900 soldiers
they made their choice
they believed the lie like
the rest of us
they took their chances
what does it matter
that they died
for a safer more democratic world
only to add fuel to the fire
of fascism and hate
who cares if it ain’t over
over there
who cares that
the thieves in office
will have to improvise another
calamity to snatch
the next four years
to run their game
so they can sell
their cheap-ass empty wares
on streets filled with the homeless
who cares
that I care
about this country
but because I say I care
and act like I care
the thieves in office
call me unpatriotic
who cares when wolves
eat your flock
as long as we call it
progress
wordsmiths are at the helm
while in the belly of the ship
we make toasts
to the captain and his crew
ignoring the water
which licks
our ankles

Randolph Nesbitt

Posted over on Poets Against The War