by F.I. Goldhaber
Young and old, jobless
and under employed
they stream downtown
to pitch their tents.
In the face of tear
gas and pepper spray,
false arrest and
imprisonment
they persevere. I'm
reminded of the
Révolution
françaises, "To the
barricades!" Then the
students, impoverished
bourgeoisie, and
leftists banded
together to fight
for the principles
this young nation
introduced to
the world: Liberté,
égalité, and
fraternité.
We don't set fires
in the street. Instead,
we camp, we march, we
carry signs to
remind passers
by exactly who
the villains in this
conflict are: stock
brokers, bankers,
mega corps who have
bought all three branches
of the U.S.
government.
Unlike seventeen
eighty-nine, police
now throw the first
stones. Across the
country, leaders are
violating the
constitution
they have sworn to
protect, the one that
guarantees"the right
of the people
peaceably to
assemble." This is
where we must make our
stand. On the streets
and when we mark
our ballots next year.
They have the money.
We have the votes.
We're the ninety
nine percent. This: these
tents, these signs, is what
democracy
looks like today.
F.I. Goldhaber's second poetry collection Pairs of Poems was ranked number three in the Preditors & Editors readers poll for poems. She is an editor, book designer, poet, novelist, and story teller who's written professionally for more than a quarter century and has won a number of awards for her fiction and poetry. Her short stories, novelettes, poems, news stories, feature articles, essays, editorial columns, and reviews have been published in magazines, e-zines, newspapers, calendars, and anthologies. She's also had three erotica novels published under another name.
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