For Founding Fathers Not To See: "We, the Sheeple" July 4th 2005 By vcr Rest in peace, dear intrepid Founders of this honored land. Please, look not here for your heirs to take a stand. We've gone to war on a presidents lies, And now our sons and even daughters die. HE says he honors nature's supposed creator, Changes laws so that industry may rape her. I served a country that I loved with honor and distinction, Now I am a storage dweller, while I watch its sad extinction. The rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; a once inalienable fact. These he's tossed on garbage heaps with his blasphemous Patriot Act. This day the Fourth of month July, once filled me with patriotic intoxication. But now I sit in abysmal, depressive incapacitation. Our freedom more than once was bought with no less than our finest blood But now, most bitter tears of his betrayal, these the land doth flood. Alas, our Nation was once of mighty "We, The People"; Has become the slaughter ground for meekly "We, The Sheeple".
That's incredible, vcr. I sometimes write poetry myself, but I could never write one like that - especially the rhyming - I never know how to rhyme.
Amazing poetry! I couldn't write anything like that either. You are very talented and have a gift for saying what you want in an elegant way. Great job! I love this poem b/c it expresses what most of us feel in an artistic manner. Peace and love
thank you Gib, this is actually the only one of the poems written by me, that "I" composed, what I mean by that is that most of my poetry is nearly entirely "muse" written. I make no appeal to mythological creatures in my use of the word "muse", but rather use it to describe "spontaneous writing events". The first such event resulted in a poem titled "The Pit", I was completely unaware of having written it until I suddenly seemed to loose my train of thought while writing longhand in an actual notebook. I was no wee bit amazed when I went back a page to review and discovered the poem that actually had only one possible title in my opinion. I'll be posting it with one or two other "muse" written poems shortly, it was sometime before "I" was able to be present at these writings, it is still a sorce of no small amazement to me. With perhaps one exception all of my muse written prose, and poems, are incredibly black, this doesn't suprise me as they are a manifestation of creativity in the hands of severe manic depressive disorder( I categorically reject the diagnosis of "bipolar disorder"). As may become evident I have no "formal" understanding of the conventions of poetry, and therefore would gladly welcome any critique by those who do. Thank you once again for reading this and I much appreciate your opinion. sine cera
My sine cera gratitude dear hippie_chick, your reply made me actually feel good. I am trying very hard take it slow and easy in attempting to come into this community, I was very much excited upon discovering it, and am intensely aware of my historic social ineptitude that has led to, I believe misinterpretations of me in the past, at other online communities. I was a rather precocious 12 y.o. in the summer of '68 when I abandoned my extremely right wing upbringing, (america was god, John Wayne was Jesus Christ, and the constitution was the holy spirit), and immersed my self in the rising "counter culture", I was easily accepted among the university students in Pittsburgh PA, as being first generation highland Scot, I had the facial hair of a male 5 years older than I, as well I'd been in pocession of a very well used library card since first grade. Those were very heady times, we were going to change the world, ushering the Age of Aquarius, and all that, little did we suspect the lenghts the "establishment" would go, to undermine this movement. When the war ended, it was a crushing blow to see the movement begin to disintegrate. I say this by way of explanation of the line, "I served a country that I loved....." You see I was very upset by what I was seeing and naturally that led to the brilliant idea, one day after a friend and I had eaten a 1/4 oz. of shrooms, of going out and hassling the first recruiter we came to, thank the Mother of Weirdness, it was an Air Force recruiter, that is how I woke up the nest day to find myself inextricabley committed to 4 years of military service ). High as the stratosphere on hallucinogenics I did solomnly swear, the quintessence of irony in my opinion. Thank you unmeasurably once again sister for your words of praise and encouragement, you brought a much needed ray of light and hope to a very darkened spirit. Peace and Love sine cera
Wow, that's strange. I've heard of cases in which people's hands started writing things without the person knowing or willing it. I've even heard of cases in which the hand writing itself was completely unlike the person's. It's almost like the hand gets possessed by something. Is this what you mean? Do these "muse" written poems express your own sentiments or do you not relate to them at all?
Indeed it is strange but unlike what you reference, and they generally are more intimately me, than I am aware of, for tis certain that many times they have revealed the nature of a crisis event that had not yet manifested itself in what, for a number of years, were typically debilitating, horror filled psychotic events. For example "The Pit" is a llitteral description of one such "internal event". Other times it is, as if, they are warnings from behind the veil.
Bravo, vcr; Braavoo!! Tell it like it is, Brother! In all seriousness, though; your poem says it all about what's going on in our country today. Sounds like you used to have great pride in being an "American" (ie: "I served a country that I loved with honor and distinction..." "....and now I watch its sad extinction...") Wow - those lines really got me. I cannot imagine what a gentleman such as yourself must feel to have, indeed, served time in the armed forces and dedicating prime youth years of your life to doing so; and then to witness the reprehensible activity in which our current leader is indulging - shame on him! You know, I'm not usually at a loss for words, but I have difficulty coming up with the word that describes just how bad Bush is ...simply the fact that he's blowing it now to the point where he is giving himself up right & left reveals how inept he is and how undeserving he is of remaining the president of our country. What is this teaching our children? His behavior is absolutely disgusting and deplorable, and is just one more brick in the wall towards what other countries think of "Americans." You know, it doesn't make any sense - the nutzoids take out the ones that choose to strive to make positive changes and bring our country back to what all those phrases says it stands for ... people like John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy, and John Lennon. And the bad guys? Like Bush? They leave him alone! Where is the justice - oh, excuse me; I forgot that there is no justice anymore - right in line with the theme your poem conveys - the justice system is no longer the same either. It gone from the pursuit of justice and right versus wrong to "let's get us a conviction today, boys ... to hell with if we've got the right one or not; we just want the conviction to make our conviction rate look good at election time - after all, we and the almighty buck are what's important here!" Yes, we are in a downward spiral of "The Decline of Empire", and 'We The People' indeed, have become, 'We The Sheeple'. Your poem was so good because it came from the heart. Thank you, VCR. Sincere Regards, Michaela ___________________________________________________________ "They will never make a perfect heart until they make one that can't be broken." ....... The Wizard, "The Wizard of Oz" ___________________________________________________________
I wholeheartedly agree. I'm a Canadian, and I've always wanted to talk about this issue with a American like you, Michaela, or vcr. Yes, the non-American world is just as divided on this issue (bush, Iraq, foreign-policy, etc.) as America herself is. You're being watched by everybody and people are picking sides like at a hockey or football game - violence sometimes even errupts in the crowd, let alone on the field. But I find there are very few individuals that see the subtle shades of grey between the poles. I find it scornfully ignorant of people to choose one side of the debate and point the finger at the other side with accusations of "anti-american" or "anti-human-rights". It's such a difficult issue that the most reasonable position has to be (in my mind) that there is no clear-cut right and wrong. One might lean more to one side than another, but the only way we're ever going to make progress as a united people (united Americans or united citizens of the world) is by sticking to this middle road - not parting from each other to find our respective poles. In any case, I just wanted to say that any anti-american sentiments around the world mostly stem from the tragic losses of virtue vcr expresses in his poems. Most people won't think deeply enough to realize this. Most people, including some canadians, will simply jump on the anit-american band wagon on its way to protest the latest form of capitalistic colonialism - but the roots of this animosity come from decades of watching what was once a noble and virtuous country. I was the light that allowed the rest of the world to see, the example for the rest of us to follow. I find that I am one of the few who still realize this, and that's why, in my protests, I hope for a return to the greatness that America once was - not its final downfall. I wouldn't mind being a neighbor to such a nation in the least.
Thank you Gib, Thank you very much for both the sentiment and the recognition, I was raised to dearly love my country, I was raised by Scotish imigrants who both moved here as young children, and though they lived in the same city not 5 miles apart, only met in the south Pacific Ocean, on a Navy Hospital ship, during the early days of WWII, my father, a marine aviator, had been picked up by an American sub patroling for survivors off of one of the many islands overrun by the Japanese immediately after Pearl Harbor, my mother was a Navy Nurse, both were fierce patriots. For all my youth I knew that America stood for truth, and justice, this was the American way. It took many blows to knock out that conviction the first was the assatination of a childhood hero, J.F.K. , then the summer of '68 and the death of a beloved cousin in 'nam, powerful blows but still I believed. Gib, I am sorry, I can not tell you how much, but look not for a revival of the U.S.A., her death warrant was signed in 1913, it takes a long time to kill greatness. But you need only readf the Declaration of Independence, and relize that it could be sent to a modern George with very little modification, read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and realize that they are invalidated by the blasphemous Patriot Act, and finally on Tuesday last, with the treacherous signing of the Military Commisions Act, taps are sounding across this land, no more the bright ringing of the bell of liberty. This poem, was my lament for the dying of my country, I need to write a requiem. I had some hope when I came across this site that there may still be a chance, but even here it seems the peril is not taken seriously may whatever forces might have influence have mercy on the people of this land, we sacrificed our freedom, and what ought have been the light of the world, on the alter of complacency. I do not understand the blindness, I cannot fathom the depth of uncaring that allows this to go on. Thomas Jefferson was right we needed a revolution no later than 200 years, but we were already too late in '68. As for those who would point a finger at We the People, a finger of derision and hate, may they burn in hell, for where was their seeing when one of the biggest tell tales of what was happening, the massive coverup of the assasination of R.F.K. the last hope for the grand experiment, and the greatest nation that ever was. I see no basis for hope, the machinations of undoing are far too entrenched. I am convinced that any energies that may be exerted for a chance at a positive future must now be exerted along other lines. That argument though I'm waiting to see if I ought to present here, it really depends on how some other, fundamental issues are recieved, I can only hope. sine cera
Nothing is set in stone vcr. Everything is in a constant state of flux. I don't know how dark the years ahead will be, or how long they will last, but light does shine through eventually. We may be in for the next dark age or we may only have to wait for the next election - that's the beauty of the electoral process - there's always hope for a more noble king. I'm not one to stamp out other people's views, but I do have to say that committing one's self to a particular view, especially a bleak one, can be dangerous. I always find, especially when it comes to paranoid thinking, that it's better to say "I don't know" rather than "I do know and it doesn't look good" because the truth is we don't know. We can never be absolutely certain about what's in store for us.
