Man (Homo Colossus) (1982)
Man builds tools
much larger than men
and cannot comprehend
or even can feel
their weight
as they make him still smaller and flat
(and her smaller still as she feeds him and irons his shirt)
But he knows something’s wrong
“More bigger!”, he cries
The tools make the rules
They use him
He runs faster and faster
To where? Who cares?
Trying to win, but to play is to lose in this game
Man makes slaves of women and men
of the people who skillfully
quote unquote willfully
run his machine for a fee
And the young ones he trains to shoot and to kill
with electronic games that they play for a thrill
As for grownups he keeps them believing they’re free
with microwave ovens, mixed drinks, and TV
Is this what they mean by the American Dream?
Of course it is
And it’s time to wake up
*******
The Geometry of Power (Circles Rise Up) (1992)
The government, the military, and the corporations
All use the same form of organization
A multi-level pyramid of domination
It’s the all-pervasive shape of social relations
A pyramid of wealth, a pyramid of power
It’s how they lay claim to what rightly is ours
They accumulate more than anyone needs
In a system motivated by greed
They got the wealth, the power, and this is how they got ’em
With a few at the top and the many at the bottom
The pyramid seems to be solid and strong
But first impressions can be wrong
See, the few at the top need the many at the bottom
They’ve had their Spring, now it’s time for the Autumn
Because those of us who constitute the pyramid’s foundation
Start to dance to the sounds of liberation
When the many at the bottom start to turn to each other
And gather in circles as sister and brother
The power of a few gives way to power for all
And the circles rise up and the pyramids fall
The circles rise up and the pyramids fall
And a new way is taking shape
A new way is taking shape
A circle gives everyone full participation
A circle is the shape of self-determination
Circles in the workplace, circles in the town
And circles of circles all around
The circles rise up and the pyramids fall
And a new way is taking shape
A new way is taking shape
A circle is the shape that nature likes best
From the cycle of the seasons to the circle of the nest
A circle is a shape with neither up nor down
I have seen the future …
And the future is round
*******
Battle in Seattle (1999)
The WTO came to Seattle
And the whole world was watching
Protesters converged for a globalocal battle
And the whole world was watching
Whose world? Our world!
Whose streets? Our streets!
So we took to the streets, chanting
“No new round! Turn around!”
And you know what?
We shut it down!
They gassed us, they beat us
But they couldn’t defeat us
They grabbed us, they jailed us
But our solidarity never failed us
The whole world was watching
And the whole world saw
that there ain’t no power like the power of the people
’cause the power of the people don’t stop
The people came from many directions
Finding our power at the center, in connection
Poised at the edge of a century
We began to reclaim our destiny
This is what democracy looks like
This is what democracy sounds like
This is what democracy smells like
This is what democracy tastes like
We’ve tasted it
Now we’re hungry for it
*******
empire/vampire (2003)
empire is a vampire
sucking the blood of its victims
sucking the oil right out of the earth
sucking our water & air
forests & prairies
oceans & fishes
birds & all other living creatures
empire is a vampire
sucking the lives right out of its enemies
sucking the lives of its protectors & servants
its buyers & sellers
its losers & even its winners
empire is a vampire
sucking the spirit right out of our people
sucking the imagination out of our children
sucking our history & our future
our cultures & our dreams
sucking liberty & justice for all
empire is a vampire
slinking through darkness
recoiling from light
surviving on the blood of its victims
don’t feed the vampire
shine a light
& live free
********
The Bullies of Babylon
The heads are talking on the box, but all that they supply
is the commission of omission and a daily dose of lies
about who’s the good guys and who’s the bad guys
It’s the news brought to you by the wolves in sheep’s disguise
And they babble and they babble and they babble on
Brought to you by the bullies of Babylon
So don’t expect that they are ever gonna tattle on
the heinous crimes of the bullies of Babylon
The bullies of Babylon, they own the TV stations,
the radio, newspapers, ’n’ magazines across the nation
They’re controlling almost every bit of mass communication
with a simple goal of profit not the public’s education
And they babble and they babble and they babble on
Bought and sold by the bullies of Babylon
So excuse me for a minute while I rattle on
about the evils of the bullies of Babylon
The bullies of Babylon, they tell us what to buy
They tell us how dress and what car we ought to drive
They tell us what to eat and drink and smoke and where to fly
When the bullies say “jump” too many people say “how high?”
And they babble and they babble and they babble on
how you gotta buy the baubles of Babylon
They say you’re up a creek without a means to paddle on
until you buy into the baubles of Babylon
The bullies are collecting all the dollars, dimes, and pennies
and blaming all the problems on the ones who don’t have any
They are building lots of prisons and they’re locking up the poor
And they say that bad guys overseas made them start a war
And they babble and they babble and they babble on
about protecting all our freedoms in Babylon
But you know the only thing they’ll go to battle on
is the freedom to buy baubles from Babylon
The bullies wage a battle to be boss of everyone
They give out their commands at the end of a gun
I don’t know about you, but I think that’s no fun
So I’m gonna fight back until I’m dead or till we’ve won
I’m gonna rattle and a-tattle and a-battle on
till we beat these bullshit bullies of Babylon
(if you feel me, please join in)
We’re gonna rattle and a-tattle and a-battle on
till we beat these bullshit bullies of Babylon
*******
freelansing in Seattle 