Plain Talk

Give me one minute to tell you some things
That have been on my mind for years
I have worked my whole life and what have I got
But clothes stained by my blood and my tears

Now let me tell you, you self righteous prick
Who died and made you my king?
What gives you the right to tell me my life
Can’t be complete without a wedding ring?

You don’t have the right to tell me who to love
And then only someone not my gender
When you beat your spouse every fortnight
And revel in your hetero splendor

If I get raped and get pregnant to boot
You demand that I give birth to a child
But you won’t approve of birth control pills
And abortion is something reviled

This is my body you son of a bitch
You have no right to tell me I can’t
Decide whether to give birth to a baby
While you’re drooling at breast implants

You say you’re not racists and that work is fair
I’m Black and have a college degree
But you hired the White high school drop out
You never intended to employ me

I came out of retirement to look for work
I dressed in my best business attire
You said no jobs your company down sized
But the young person behind me got hired

I’m 13 years old just discovering my life
I’ve got questions and I’m beginning to blossom
When I ask my parents they wont talk about sex
Education at school would be awesome

I came to this land with a hope and a dream
I saw was the Statue of Liberty
I worked every day then the economy fails
Now you’re hating and blaming me

My people were here ten thousand years before you
We walked across the ice age frozen sea
If ever there was a real American born
It’s the indigenous people like me

Your ancestors came to ravage my land
You slaughtered our wild herds for sport
Then you called yourselves civilized Christians?
I want nothing to do with your sort

I’m a woman whose worked all of her life
And it’s time that I had my say
I work harder than you and I’m smarter than you
I’m rewarded with less in my pay

You claim in this land religious expression is free
I can worship or believe nothing at all
Then you make me feel like an outsider
And tell me I am this country’s downfall

I was born with my spinal cord twisted
I want to work and pay my own way
I’ve never been able to get to work on time
Because you park in the handicap bay

Now all of you so called Americans
With your flags and your anti- Democrat talk
What happened to justice and freedom?
You love to talk but you can’t walk the walk

When it comes to living with equality
You cringe and fight and you mock
Now go look at yourself in your mirror
It’s time to take some personal stock

You have the right to believe as you want
And I can say what’s on my mind too
You have the right to turn a deaf ear to me
And I don’t have to listen to you

Where will that get us but nowhere?
We argue from the left and the right
It’s time for plain talk and honesty
I’m sick of ideological fights

Equal means equal for all of us
White, Black, male, female and gay
You can’t keep on taking without giving back
The piper’s demanding his pay

If you think I’m mad you’re damned right about that
I’m tired of your patriot games
You are no better than the poorest of us
Inside we are all just the same

You can’t call this land free and then discriminate
Against the poor, Blacks, women and gays
Your radio preacher takes our once sacred law
And twists it to fit his right wing hateful ways

Mind your own house take a look at yourself
Step into my shoes for a walk
And when you return from that journey
Let’s sit down and have an honest plain talk

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art, bascom, bfeatured, patriot, patriotic, poem, poetry, political, politics and writing