Stand or Evade

Here and now in this place and time
There is no pause to bow in rhyme
No affect or cause found in these lines
Shrines built to honor the days of the dead
And under the silt, eight feet underground
Their strength remains tucked away safe and sound
Search all you can, but you'll never find
A place to hide from the demons of mind
My disposition, left by the Soul of Man
Running from tales I can't understand
Banned the memory, ousted the pain
Hit the bottom of the bottle again
Standing in rain, but dying of thirst
Hardship and sorrow, whichever came first
What joy can be borrowed when you know the worst
In a hearse, one by one they all disappear
Soldiers erect, their end drawing near
Cause or effect, which do we fear?
Politicians debate and preachers dabble
On economic state and religious babble
While with conscious ridicule I criticize this war
The streets dying, save them all I implore
But you take them away to lock them in dark
Smothering flames and spitting at sparks
Branded by the mark, our creative joy killed
Is this the life your God has willed?
How can we stand against action now stilled
It's easy friend, stand for starters
Concrete rose with a mission now a martyr
It would seem hiding in darkness is smarter
But you shatter our dreams, and the flesh will remain
As we're led away one by one, either dead or in chains
This is my quest, I pray not in vain
That truth will reign and peace be attained
This is my crusade, my lifelong campaign
Here I stand calling, but will you stand or evade
Trembling afraid against psychological grenades
But I fight for what I admire, for the streets you shall weep
Cowards should not speak, no place for the meek in war
Cease the babbling, what is it for?
As a slave all mankind serves
To the merciless and morally perverse
While the masses do nothing but sit back and observe
Your political standpoint is simple, do not stand
As the hatred and violence grows and expands
We walk the roads of intellectual oppression
Talking in codes to hide indiscretion
Our obsession consumes us nearly alive
And only with aggression are we allowed to survive
The sociological paste has been replaced
With hardened minds, kindness erased
Our hearts not on our sleeve,
But worn on our waists, give up this charade
Of fighting in your self-made crusade
Where were you when our strength would fade
Hiding there beneath the shade
Of this silent tree of shame, this game the same.
You claim your success based on how far we regress
And hold no worth in what we love best,
In smaller things than diamond rings
Our only saviors labeled street kings
Your choice is one of lament, nothing other
But our voices rally and won’t be smothered
Our cries so deep but we cannot weep
As we attempt wake you from your silent sleep
The contempt we feel we cannot shake
And from the binds of the government
We need to break, we need to fly
Don’t be fooled by the hopelessness
Don’t get caught up in the guise
You cannot harmonize nor recognize
The strength of our ability
So you plagiarize and penalize
Our spirits with alacrity
While we devise our surprise
To erase the façade and remove the disguise
For from the ashes of your ignorance we rise.

~SLM aka Ambrosia