Custom cannot wither, nor age enslave
My infinite array of memories.
I came of age upon a wave
Of ideals that anchored
Changes and elders outraged,
Appalling them into rage.
They often responded
With violence, yet we endured.
Even when comrades were shot down,
And protesters run to ground,
The promise of a new world grew in secret,
In the impromptu families in hill towns,
Or the remnants of Haight-Ashbury
And the minds of Lost Boys and Girls unbound,
In the survivors of Kent and Jackson State;
Our dream died not but elected to wait,
And In the choices of all
Not to succumb to servility
Nor women to proscribed maternity.
Equality stayed the rule instead of resignation.
Now, age has slowed but not stopped us
And we reach out across the air,
Teaching young ones, as passionate as we,
To distrust despots, ever serve the cause of liberty.

Holding hands, we’ve got a reason
To be together.
Taking a stand, for a moment in time
And forever.

We’re all here,
Because we care,
About something.
We each speak,
but together
One voice matters

Sickened by the news,
Hate against Blacks and Jews.
Schoolchildren aren’t safe,
Tiki torches in our face,
their light shows, we’re all one race.
No one wants your view,
But I do,
And the women scream,
“Me too!”

Arm in arm, defending our rights
For each other.
Sound the alarm, have we stopped caring
For one another?

Thoughts and prayers
Are all we hear,
We need more.
If we all,
speak together
Our voices matter.

We can’t feed our poor,
But the rich keep getting more.
Instead of bridges,
We get walls.

When did we go blind, to the suffering
Of the stranger,
who’s our neighbor?
I can’t just be for me, if I’m free,
So people, follow me.

Open your eyes, staring down power
For freedom.
Time to rise, pray with your feet.
We need you.

Speaking up,
Because silence,
Grows evil.
If we all,
March together
Our footsteps matter.
We spend more on defense,
But we never invest,
In those we most need to protect.

Land of opportunity?
Shutting doors?
What future is in store?
Now is our time.
Get in line.
Your voice,
Is mine!

To wake up
against the rallying chains
of the unwilling,
who keep us captive and weak.
Lies become so cheap
you can buy a seat at parliament’s feet

But the price sleeps
In that house of white.

We as the people,
have a right-
to wake up
yet it is not enough,
awakening only works with
ten thousand fists in the air
in protest

Not to stand proud
but for firmness
denying weakness

We as the people,
are not a guest to democracy.

Democracy is a home for all

Those taller,
should use their fingertips
to reach toward the sun
rather than standing in the way  

Let that light no longer be difficult to obtain—
let it reign
over abuse of power
temperature rising on the corrupt

our brightness
   must be a force
to drive out darkness

Humanity standing tall for everyone
no worries of divinity
when the land we live on
wouldn’t be blessed by any god
soil planted by frauds
and the hate spread
grows nothing
from this earth

To rise-
Everyone can survive
Only with the courage
And ending of lost lives

Power depends on the downfall,
for someone to die

but revolution only requires
us
to rise,
to rise,
to rise.

Santa has a new list
It's songs you cannot sing
You cannot say it's cold outside
Or sing of bells that ring

You cannot sing of Rudolph
He got bullied after all
The list is quite extensive
End to end it's six feet tall

You can't even say Christmas
And that is quite absurd
Apparently there's someone who
Is offended by the word

Some are pretty sketchy
Santa Baby, ain't no way
Even if you smile
You can do it just one way

Frosty, that's a maybe
Silent Night, I think is fine
But, sing 12 days of Christmas
And the PC folks will whine

Three wise men, that one is out
There's complaints about that one
They want a woman in the song
And so that song is done

Anything you want to sing
You have to look at twice
Songs we used to love to hear
Now, just aren't so nice

It isn't gonna change me though
I love what's on his list
I even love the banned old song
Where mom and Santa kissed

Don't let your spirit disappear
Play every song you know
Cause Baby, it is Christmas time
And It's cold out in the snow.

you cannot silence my voice,
erase who i am and stand to be.
i will not be pushed to nonexistence,
for my story is not written in pencil,
it is written in ink.

― and i will leave my mark on history

cope with all the greed  injustice and brutality
we learn about day in  day out

with some luck
these are not part of our own experience
but second hand  from news and media

this does not make it better  though
when trusted public figures fail

how to react
    to priests and teachers
          who abuse the young
    to presidents  dictators  populists
          leading astray their countries
    to our elected politicians
          unable to resist the lure
              and money
          of those special interest groups
    to ruthless powermongers  businesses
          that only work for profit
          not the common good
    
resistance is not easy
the choice of weapons in this conflict difficult

yet if we not resist
not make the global and the smaller perpetrators
accept responsibility for their misdeeds

our living years will soon grow fewer
and we shall hasten our journey
     to the end of all our needs