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Monday, March 22, 2010

The Bus Is Full of Hypocrites


My goal is rage today, because I'm taking a ride on the totalfeckineegit's Poetry Bus to Mad City. I've never been good at wrath, for deep psychological reasons (!). TFE's Poetry Bus theme is a challenge for such a mellow soul as me.


Hypocrites and Other Sinners

I protest the presence of mean people on this planet
I protest the assholes who litter, who jack off in public
who abandon their elderly parents to fend for themselves
I protest the bureaucrats and government officials
who feather their nests at taxpayer expense and spend
all of their time doing nothing to benefit the people

I protest the war and lives lost or irrevocably wounded
I protest the buttheads who take pleasure in damage
who want what they want and don’t care what it costs
I protest the sadists who inflict their sick thinking
on children and women, who murder the innocent
then live out their lives on the public’s dollars and cents

I protest all dictators, racists, and hypocritical clergy
I protest a world where the few who wear Gucci
get tax credit for sending a small check to the shoeless
I protest the greedy who profit from misery or slaughter
who line their pockets with the skin of dead animals
and sleep well while sweatshops churn out their products

I protest while sipping my premium fair-trade coffee
I protest by keyboarding on my new laptop computer
a fast little beauty I bought with American Express
I protest while wearing my UGGs and Liz Claiborne
in a home so well-furnished, I bemoan all my “stuff”
and I think I stand guilty of hypocrisy too.


*****


40 comments:

Argent said...

Wow! What a great bus debut! I really love the how you turn the tables on yourself at the end! Superb.

Totalfeckineejit said...

She shoots , she scores! Agree with Argent, this had it all and topped it off with a wonderful twisting mirror at the end.From a mellow person, boy this hit hard.Well done and welcome aboard!!

Anonymous said...

So noted! I'll join you in protesting all the mean people.
Well done.

Secretia

Peter Goulding said...

Agree. My wife calls me an armchair communist!
Powerful stuff.

Brian Miller said...

way to bring it home at the end there...beautiful anger, smiles. i hear the taste of anger.

Shadow said...

protest away, you've got some very valid things going there...

Moonrayvenne said...

SO true that none of us is completely innocent. (((HUGS)))

Alan Burnett said...

Yes, I like it. It was made, of course, by the twist of honesty in its tail.

Unknown said...

Honest, self-examination in prose! I love Uggs and premium coffee and my half-n-half. I have the latest gadgets and although I don't wear makeup--if I did, it would be expensive. I am ranting with you though, because silence kills. Progress not perfection!

♥namaste♥

Batteson.Ind said...

You about cap it there! It's easy to be pissed off when you're not hungry,or in fear of imminant death. It's a luxury in fact.. great poem!

Scott M. Frey said...

I think you've covered wrath quite nicely :-)

Beth Niquette said...

That is an amazing piece of poetry! Wow!

swiss said...

+1. top ending

Magpie said...

So true and such a nice twist. It's hard to take an honest look at ourselves sometimes.

Mojo said...

Chris, this was powerful in a lot of ways. Hit me between the eyes like a bullet.

Yeah, I suppose we all ride that bus don't we. Very thought provoking post.

CiCi said...

It doesn't matter when you get hit with the eye opener, it only matters that you do see. If you have the hot little computer and your UGGs so be it. At least you understand and care. This post is right on. All of it. Hugs.

Evalinn said...

Well written!

Anonymous said...

Nice job. Remind me of the old Dennis Miller rants!

Niamh B said...

Very true poem. Like the others really admire the twist at the end, the admirable honesty of it.

Syd said...

Chris, this is a great poem. I protest so many of the same things. And today I protest the lies and the hate mongering that seems to still be seething.

Kat Mortensen said...

It has the feel of a "Declaration of Independence" to me. Very succinct and well-put, Chris. I'm with you on each and every one.

Kat

Stop wearing Uggs though - they're going to kill your feet, legs and hips.

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

"I protest a world where the few who wear Gucci
get tax credit for sending a small check to the shoeless"

Genius poem - thanks for inviting me to visit: i was with you all the way on this one

e said...

Zing...and she hits the bull's eye dead on...

You are so right!

Matty said...

And I don't protest your post.

Unknown said...

I think it's always important to find the injustices of the world even when the lens is focused on ourselves...absolutely great poem, I can relate to what you rail against so well...I am so "liberal" that sadly socialists have stop seeing me in left field, is what my friends say LOL!

Thank you for railing and honesty, thank you for your poems...

Lou said...

I like the raging Chris..

And mean people suck!

Bill said...

I like the declamatory tone of this - works well outloud.

Anonymous said...

Fabulous - thanks for this.

Rosaria Williams said...

You doth protest too much! Good ending, though.

Rob Kistner said...

Each of us is a hypocrite in some facet or regard, perhaps in more than one -- and we are all definitely bozzo's on this bus...
...rob
<a href="http://www.image-verse.com/house-of-love+><i>Image & Verse</i></a>

Titus said...

Really liked this - the "I protest" repetitions, the way the targets build as the poem progresses, and then that completely unexpected final verse.
I looked at myself.

One Prayer Girl said...

I protest the serpent in the Garden of Eden.

PG

Christina said...

Very powerful. I like it.

Karen said...

Great to see you on the bus, Chris! You'll find the other passengers great supporters and critics and really good poets!

This is really a different feel for you, but I love the honesty. There's too much to identify with, unfortunately, evn the ending.

Your recent post and our conversation about it sort of inspired my ticket this time. I couldn't manage any real anger, so I settled for a close emotion.

Woman in a Window said...

Chris, I am smiling here. You smacked me upside the head in that last stanza, I daresay as I deserved it. I was thinking, previous to that though, that I was uncomfortable with protesting so much as I was feeling a bit of the hypocrit ranting through your words. You brought it home and real for me. Thank you!

You are a real powerhouse lately, you know. What kinda premium roast coffee are you drinking?

xo
erin

Catalyst said...

Ouch! What a great poem! Your insights are breathtaking, Chris.

R. Burnett Baker said...

VERY thought provoking.... Can hypocrisy have redeeming value the way our protests do??

I don't really know. But you've given me something else to ponder.

Great piece!

Pure Fiction said...

A perfect poem for this week's bus - anger and protest in one neat package.
The poem above, Condemned, is a great angry poem too - lovely spare lines that say it all, the whole story.

Marla said...

I can feel, taste, smell, see and hear the rage. Excellent piece, Chris.

NanU said...

How true it is that most of us indulge to greater or lesser extent in some of the very things we find abhorrent in others. A timely reminder to take a good look at one's own life!