I am the person who pays taxes,
Therefore I am not rich or a major corporation.
I am the person you send to war
And then come home to an ungrateful nation.
I am the worker who paid for years
To a fund you raided, then want to destroy.
I am the gay or black or disabled person
You decided it was unacceptable to employ.

I am the mother of children
Who can’t feed her children due to inflation
The grown child who cannot rent
Because I am seen as an abomination.
I am the person you claim is equal
But I am also the person you chose to ignore
Because I don’t live the way you say
You don’t want me in your neighborhood any more.

I am the person whose skin is too dark
So, you decided I am not a human being.
I am the person starving in the street
The one you manage to keep from seeing.
I am the person who hates war
And that you keep on creating more death.
I am the person who denies you grace
With all the energy I have until my last breath.

Random acts of poetry
Seem to come a lot to me.
No apologies issue from me
Because that is how it is meant to be.

It’s that lovely time of year again
Those words we love to hear again.
It’s not an ordinary kind of day
It’s your long-awaited birthday.

We have brought out the cake
And all the candles it would take
To signify to anyone who sees
You are the star of the festivities.

Maybe some presents will appear
Maybe some will forget which year
But each person there will be
There for you and happy to be.

There may be some jokes told
About you being dodderingly old
Or around longer than the earth
But all will be done in great mirth.

Others will look back pleasantly
To the halls of pleasant memories
And be proud to have been around
And hearing once again that sound.

Happy Birthday to you, again
Just like it was way back when
And just like then, it is today
That we wish you Happy Birthday.

You’re just a pumped up,
Jumped up pile of blather
And I’d rather hear a cat
Yowling under my window
Than what you bellow
When someone is stupid
Enough to hand you a mike.
And I’d like to remind you
How unkind you are to many
That you daily look down on,
Calling them losers and morons,
When the title refers more to you
Because of the incredibly crass
Times you are an ***, a buffoon.

I pray that soon, you will wake up
And take up some kind of therapy
That will bring clarity to your mind
That is fogged by hair products
Or some early conduct of a parent
Because it is apparent you suffered
From lack of parental training.
Or it was raining on manners day
And you stayed home to play
Or count your pay from dividends
From your trust fund. That’s just one
Of the multitude of benefits you had
That made you barking mad today;
That made you say horrible things
About women in general and inaccurate
Statements about Mexicans and about
Better politicians than you will ever be.

If suddenly history goes completely nuts
And elects your ***; a misogynistic,
Unrealistic a sophistic stranger to reality
As you turned out to be, it will be sicken me.
You had more given to you without effort,
And in that desert of a mind of yours,
Which bores most of us to tears,
Somehow the years of plenty
Denied to so many and gifted to you
Have left you with nothing fun to do
But brag about yourself.
You’re an ugly elf.

You weren’t listening to me
I know it to be true you see
Because you could not hear me
And not be in love with me.
I have told you carefully
What you have here in me
A person of total loyalty
And outrageous personality.

You could not have been listening
Because you were not hearing
The wonderful things I’m telling
And the joys that are here waiting
Waiting patiently and languishing
In the shadow of your evening
As the sun has begun lowering
And the moon has begun rising.

I sit in the shadows and I’m sad
Missing all the good times we had
Knowing something cannot be bad
When it has made me so very glad.
If you only missed me just a tad
I would be a much happier lad.
I fear our love was just a fad
And it’s serving to drive me mad.

I know you weren’t listening to me
Or you couldn’t behave callously.
You would be enchanted totally
And drawn to me quite helplessly.
Is it something else completely?
Some magic spell not from me?
Some disgusting magical sorcery
That drags you away forcefully?

Don’t like waking up in the morning
I like to sleep until at least noon.
Breakfast can be any food at all
I drive home under the moon.
My friends are all complaining
They don’t know when to visit
But that never seems to stop me.
That isn’t very balanced is it?

I’m a swing shifter, it’s true
Even if it’s grating on you.
I’m either cooking or cleaning
Or maybe the one waiting on you
So you have your evenings
Free to go out and have fun.
Someone must be there for you
And baby, I’m the very one.

I never see the evening news
Except on my evenings off.
I’m not caught up on politics
To form an opinion or scoff.
I’m not up on television shows
Don’t know about the stars.
But I know the late night spots
And exactly where they are.

I’m a swing shifter, it’s true
Even if it’s grating on you.
I’m either cooking or cleaning
Or maybe the one waiting on you
So you have your evenings
Free to go out and have fun.
Someone must be there for you
And baby, I’m the very one.

I made you love me
With treacle, tricks and tonsure.
I was so sure of myself
I could dissuade you from anyone else
And elves would come
In the night to bewitch you more deeply.
Sleepy, sleeping, not seeing
You would fall under my loving spell.

And well would I use you
Truly dragging you along unaware
Of my witchery, jiggery-pokery
Jokingly, or seductively
Instructively guiding you to please
Easing you into your role;
Solely in charge of the play
Saying sweet, flattering words
Heard in clutches and hugs
Drugs for the lonely, the needy.

And you became convinced
Since I am so good at my craft
I drafted you into my dream
Seemingly all your idea.
My Galatea of sweet, smooth skin;
Sin for me to commit gladly,
Madly, I did not care what you wanted
I flaunted my talent brashly
Trashily uncaring of the scorn
That might be born of my ego;
My need so ugly to see:
Me, playing god of love.

Just like everybody else
I was learning for myself
Just what would make me sick
And how the whole world ticks.
Then I quickly ran into collusion
Left me in a state of confusion.
I learned about rationalization
And self-righteous indignation
From purveyors of hypocrisy
Passed off as great philosophy
That labeled some as dross,
Not fit to be the lowest boss.
I watched people get locked out
And ignored when they shouted
The bosses talking about degrees
Driving workers to their knees
Because they couldn’t afford
College room and board
For the four years of beer bashes
And drunken month-long crashes
In Mexican towns full of them
That could go there on a whim
While the children of the working class
Worked hard so their kids could pass
And have a chance to get ahead
Instead of a shoveling until dead.

I was learning this first-hand
That not all of life was grand
If you could not afford to buy.
And banks just passed you by
When you needed a car
Because work was so far
From where you had to stay
In the neighborhoods far away
From the nice neat places
And squeaky clean faces
Of those who inherited wealth
Or were sent to schools
That sent out the fools
That knew how to look nice.
And nobody thought twice
When they weren’t quite as bright
As the people that had to fight
For an opening, then trained
So the rich kid could maintain
In a job he didn’t qualify for
But he had the SAT score
To prove he was intelligent
And had the proper quotient
Whether he could deliver or not.
The rest was all just rot.
And nobody paid attention
Nor would they mention
The kid was a well-trained fool
And what he learned in class
Was how to look good and pass
For a person smarter than
The average working man.
That’s what I learned first-hand
And what I came to understand.

One, two, no three
It’s just you and me.
Six, five, four
We don’t need any more.
Eight, nine, ten;
Too big of a crowd.
One, two, no three.
I say it loud and proud.

It’s you, baby.
You’re a miracle to me.
It’s true baby.
My heart beats constantly
Whenever you’re around
Whenever you are near.
Just look at my face
Smiles from ear to ear.

You’re it, baby.
Nobody else will do.
The best baby.
Of anyone I ever knew.
Just right, baby.
Like Goldilocks and the bears.
You fit, baby.
And that is all I really care.

We click, baby.
Like we always did.
Come quick, baby.
Make me feel just like a kid.
My heart, baby,
It’s beating just for you.
It works, baby.
It’ just about me and you.

One, two, no three
It’s just you and me.
Six, five, four
We don’t need any more.
Eight, nine, ten;
Too big of a crowd.
One, two, no three.
I say it loud and proud.

I was moaning softly
So you would not hear.
I do it every moment
When you are not near.
It’s like I’m emptied out
In the blink of an eye.
All I want to do is to
Sit right here and cry.

I want you to stay
Don’t want you to go
But you’ve got your life
So, what do I know?
If I were the one who
Was just perfect for you
You’d stay by my side
My dream would come true.

I pretend in front of you
So you don’t even know
How much I miss you
Every time you go.
I know it’s silly of me
You have broken no vows
But that doesn’t help me
When I feel as I feel now.

I’m hurting inside myself
And I’m missing your touch,
Your kiss and your smile
Came to mean so much.
I hate sounding needy
Even though it’s a fact.
I’m so much in love that
I don’t know how to act.

I want you to stay
Don’t want you to go
But you’ve got your life
So, what do I know?
If I were the one who
Was just perfect for you
You’d stay by my side
My dream would come true.