Valves, siphons, pistons & cylinders;
gear-trains & trip hammers;
cams & cam-shafts—
mechanisms of a thousand useful machines—

creations of the creation, humanity—

no one knows the inventors' names,
    &, anyway,
compared to what has become of them
with refinement after refinement,
    what they made was crude—
    yet exquisite
as dandelion, salmon, or Saturn's rings.

    Beyond reverence,
I'd learn to manipulate them
    for my own benefit
    & everyone's, except
those who take advantage of others'
weakness, ignorance, & desperation
    to expropriate & dominate.
 

Propitious Times

Every propitious time
    for my career
when all that was required
    was presentation of a face of admiration
to someone whose status
    was based on betrayal by omission
I refrained.

    Therefore:
I always acted in the time that followed
    the unpropitious time
when my efforts had only
    the results that they had
& everyone seemed to speed by me
    & I felt, for what I didn't know was a moment
that I had failed, was lost
    that I would never be as real
as when I had arrived, announcing myself
    naked, with cries of protestation.
 

Events

Events treated as trivial or only to be expected,
--& other events, featured & embellished, brushed clean
---of inconvenient context–
reported by those whose position depends
--on not noticing or mentioning the on-going injustices
---that enrich their employers:

elicit surges of devotion from those who would be forced–
--by the school-planted seeds of that devotion,
---if they looked over the shoulder of the one ahead in line,
& matched what could be clearly seen with those seeds–
--liberty, equality, representation, resistance to tyranny–
to risk their lives rebelling against warriors
--whose organized might has never been better equipped
---(tho the call for money never stops,
----for weapons better still):

so that those said to be protected by the followers
--of the orders of any usurper or demagogue
---able to seize command–
praise the warriors, as greater than themselves–
--tho those the warriors kill or ruin are like themselves–
---only elsewhere:

& ruled by other warriors, usurpers, & demagogues
--zealous in the cause of being thought important & wise–
---& justifying their celebrity & control
----of whatever wealth can be milked from the herd
because they war against hypocrisy, greed, & coercion
--performed in our names.
 

The Effort

The unintended consequences–of what we do 
with what we are part of–are likely to swamp us
before we fulfill our individual or collective destinies–

&, anyway, what is being done
unjustly benefits those who already have the most
at the expense of those who have the least–
& the police prevent their preventing the injustice.

The laws should be changed.

But to get in position to change the laws,
it is advantageous to say what is not exactly so 
but not easily disproven,
& to keep quiet about what most needs speaking of.

And it is easy to portray
the most scrupulous among those of us 
who'd risk making fundamental changes
as, really, suspiciously different from most who vote, 
or might vote–if it seemed worth the effort.
 

Inclusion, Exclusion

Executives at their long smooth table, 
"cool" kids at school, 
elected officials, 
members & leaders of parties, sects, & factions–
can't afford to let you join them
unless you let them know–or believe–
that you can't manage to survive without joining them.

Because they can't live outside 
their circle of mutual reassurance,
& can only survive within it 
if they believe that everyone outside of it 
only lives to find a way in.

So, if you can't manage to survive without joining them,
just make a pretty presentation at a propitious moment.

But if you CAN manage to survive without joining them–
tho there's life-threatening inconvenience 
in their arrogation of privileges, resources, & prestige–
you can only join by convincing them otherwise.

Before you do, tho–
what might you be able to do,
& who might you be able to be–
that you couldn't do or be among them–
if you never become a cell aligned in their organism?

(Understand: they'll take scrupulous care 
never to acknowledge who you are or what you dare.)

And who else might you discover–daring & doing what else
out here?
 

Who Gets?  Who Pays?

Who gets? who pays?
Who swaggers to the graveyard?
Who struggles, for clarity, thru a haze?
Who's full of confidence?
Who's full of doubt?
Who smiles–from the platform -
chuckles, shows a noble profile, & defiantly shouts?
Who, shaken, walks away,
from among the cheering crowd?

It's easy to add to the confusion & illusion,
to take the part of an actor who dies.
It's easy to be cynical, & proudly analyze.
It's hard to change the script & the outcome:
there's a well-established sub-plot
about the martyr who tries.

More & more people are heading for the exit,
even tho the action on stage goes on, intense.
Backstage - among ropes, pulleys, & handles–a skeleton crew 
tries–like those who now emerge in the chill outside the theater -
to decide–themselves–what to do