Changing Times

Changing Times

Suitable placards are not to be found
carried by those who protest
Hippie and Flower Child far underground
no longer aiding the quest

militant factions now cry their demands
while terrorists lurk in the wings
neither are certain who really commands
but both have formidable stings

gone are the days of the sit-ins for peace
gone are the love-ins for change
now there is hatred that screams for release
from politics furtive and strange

AK’s and Glocks are the tools of the day
wielded by bullies and fools
strumming guitars is no longer the way
to go about changing the rules

the method is madness, the outcome insane,
participants dying by choice
innocent bystanders harvest the pain
politicos snidely rejoice

we’ve met with our enemy and it is us
it seems we’ve learned nothing at all
from days when minorities conquered the bus
til now, when our empires fall

C. Lon R. Bruso