I was told all about revering flag
All men equal in land of the free
Then a guy hit a guy, called him ***:
Some equality. The guy he hit was me.
All I heard back then was constant rebuke
And thinly disguised batches of scorn.
So much so that I wanted to puke.
It was like they blamed me for being born.

What am I saying? They did blame me!
They wanted me to act more manfully.
There was never a another way but theirs
Not even if you are one of their heirs.
Wait, especially if you are related to them!
Who you are, the way you are is scary
Because it might make others question
Are they gay and why did they even marry?

So, I got the ugly looks and glances;
The hatred and the ugly names daily.
No chance of happy-ever-after romance
Because I was being taught to hate me.
And other gays, were taught self-hate too
And taught that they were not good.
I would have gladly reversed the situation,
In a hot minute, if I was sure I could.

But the ruling class was straight men
And their homophobic old boys club
And usually their families went along
So, there was no fix. Aye, there’s the rub.
I would be an adult before I realized
The idea is to ignore bigoted fools
And make room in your own heart
For a much more loving set of rules.

A house divided
cannot stand.
Yet fifty
different states,

all men
created equally,
yet some
three-fifths a man.

They say
we learn
from history
and I really
hope that's true,

for in our history,
up to date,
we have much
learning to do.

battle call, don't you hear them scream?
i pledge allegiance to the left wing
devout my life so much so that i started training my left hand years ago

and i think there's something to be said
for the right wing bible belt battering freedom out of men
and that is
the religion you preach with your right hand of the father
is neither love nor hope nor reverence

right wing, right hands, alt-right
preach omnipotence in the name of benevolence
and show no compassion to anyone

so you'll excuse me if i tune out your preaching
in favour of that sacrilegious singing
how dare those lyrics write free love into the veins of children
am i right, or am i right?

no, i'm left

Sometimes I just have to admit it.
Things are happening and I don’t get it.
What the hell is going on here?
Is an explanation from anyone near?
It makes a kind of sense, if you squint
But soon it caroms off on another bent.
I mean, it’s all in my native language, true,
But so much of it feels like visiting a zoo.

My life can turn into a monkey house
And without a decent kind of warning
And suddenly I’m dealing with issues
That weren’t there in the morning.
Some batch of politicians on the right
Are busily trying to steal my serenity
And maybe even trying to imprison me
And at least take away my dignity.

They say they are doing all of this
In the name of holy Jesus Christ
But it still works as a ripping off,
And an indecent but legal heist.
I may not be an attorney myself
But I was also not born last Tuesday.
These rotten scalawags in suits
Are trying to take my rights away.

It makes a kind of sense, if you squint
But soon it caroms off on another bent.
I mean, it’s all in my native language, true,
But so much of it feels like visiting a zoo.

It always amazes me that these jerks
Somehow manage to sleep at night
Because it’s plain enough to see
That what they do really isn’t right.
For example, for two hundred years
It was legal here to own negroes.
But that it was an sickening atrocity
Was as plain as their white nose.

But they held cotillions and soirees
And treated slaves like breeding stock
And sold off the black babies which
Seemed to happen around the clock
Because it made sense to these Christians
To ignore everything that Jesus said
And treat these people barbarically
From their birth until they were dead.

Sometimes I just have to admit it.
Things are happening and I don’t get it.
What the hell is going on here?
Is an explanation from anyone near?

There are plenty of modern references
Like treating immigrants as villains
When every white person in the USA
Were immigrants, most of them willing.
But rich people here are so upset
That these people are not the right kind
And that gives the rich white people
An excuse for them to be rude and unkind.

I could go on and on with this complaint
For pages and chapters without end.
I’m still waiting for someone to tell me
“Enough! We conservatives agree and say 'When!'”

Live your life as if there is no man of your dreams.
Live your life as if you will never marry or have kids.

Provide for yourself and make the lifestyle you want alone.
Don't expect anyone to come save you.

That's what men do.

They don't wait for anything or anyone.
Neither should you.

I'm learning to respect my strength
I used to be spiteful of it
As a woman, I am expected to be feminine, distressed, graceful, always right
I am not sure how it came to be but I have not respected the order of things
I have not seen that in this spiteful way I have regarded my willfulness
It has also become my saving grace in times of malcontent
My truth is clear
I am not strong because I am
I am strong because I was made by strong stuff
My mother stubborn, smart, sensual
My father intellect, humor, heart
God
I am not credited for anything that I am
But I am graced with the empowerment of women
That would not be difficult today
I cannot stop fighting even if it's easily given
Because it is a battle not a gift

when the majority claims the need
to violently fight for its minority rights
something is rotten in this nation

If you read it from the ******* book it's
"True," not just for you, for me for everybody,
We're all just here to waste, make our own sole filthy space,
What you believe is always "truth for everyone" and not just you.
No matter what we say or think or feel or know or do.