THE DEAD FLAG BLUES
the car's on fire
and there's no driver at the wheel
and the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides
and a dark wind blows
the government is corrupt
and we're on so many drugs
with the radio on and the curtains drawn
we're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
and the machine is bleeding to death
the sun has fallen down
and the billboards are all leering
and the flags are all dead
at the top of their poles
it went like this:
the buildings toppled in on themselves
mothers clutching babies
picked through the rubble
and pulled out their hair
the skyline was beautiful on fire
all twisted metal stretching upwards
everything washed in a thin orange haze
i said, "kiss me, you're beautiful, these are truly the last days"
you grabbed my hand and we fell into it
like a daydream or a fever
we woke up one morning and fell a little further down
for sure as the valley of death
i open up my wallet and it's full of blood
RAINDROPS CAST IN LEAD
raindrops cast in lead
our side lit up
then put out and buried and extinguished
underneath the perfect sun
underneath the body falling from the sky
they were martyrs falling
because on our side they were martyrs since before we were even born
the women who tried and were killed for trying
the women who died young, furious, or old, and nevеr saw the sunrise
innocents and childrеn and the tiny bodies that laughed, and will sleep forever
and never saw the beauty of the sunrise
BBF3
well... Where are you coming from?
well... I don't like the way the country's ran, don't you know, and, erm... that's pretty much what I was expressing in my poem. The government... the American government - they're sneaky, they're very deceitful, they're liars, they're cheats, they're rip-offs. I mean, the American government is one-- is one systematic government that... that nobody can trust. I don't trust them myself
And how long have you been writing for?
Huh?
How long have you been writing for?
Since I was four
Do you do this sort of thing a lot, like, open-mic kinda questions?
Oh, I love open-mics, I love coming here to do open-mics, absolutely
What kind of reactions do you usually get?
Usually, people are... are pretty much in agreement with what I'm saying
We overheard you before talking about... you went to court today for a speeding ticket?
That's accurate
right. Do you wanna tell us that story?
Yes, absolutely, I wouldn't mind telling you the story. Erm... I went to court today for a speeding ticket, and I told the judge, erm... "Let me tell you something, and you listen and you listen good, I'm only gonna say this one time and one time only, I don't repeat myself for nobody," I said. I says... "I'm here to pay a speeding ticket, not to listen to your lectures and hear you run your mouth for an hour." I says "I'm here to pay off my speeding ticket... and I'm here to... to get my fines out of the way and get the fuck to work." The judge says "You can't talk like that in my courtroom, you're in contempt of court." Then I said... I told the judge, "If that's the best you can do, I feel sorry for you." I said "Why don't you just shut your fucking mouth for once and listen." I said "I'm not gonna take your shit." I said "I'm gonna pay my speeding ticket like I said." I walked up to the god damn judge and I hand him my 25 dollars and I says "Here's my money, now I am leaving." And I left it at that
Then, before I left, I turned around and told the judge "I'm here to state who I am and be honest with you." I said "If they thought I was dangerous on the road like you're trying to accuse me of, wouldn't they have taken my license when I first got it? Yes they would." And the judge says "Yeah, you have a point," He goes "You don't need to get loud," I said "Don't get loud?" I says "I've got every right to get loud." I says "You can't do a god damn thing about it, because I'm expressing myself in your court, and there is nothing you can do about it. You think you're god because you have a robe and you can put people up the goddamn river for 20 years? Well you're not." And I left it at that
Did you walk away?
Yes I did. I don't like the judicial system, I don't like the government system, I don't like the police, I don't like anything to do with this country's government. I just don't like it, because... they're sneaky, like I said - they're deceitful, they're lying, they're cheats, they rip the people off. That's the American government for you. America is a third world country, and people don't recognize it... and I think that that's pretty god damn sad, that they don't recognize their own country as a third world, third rate, third class slum