The Cost of Capitalism

a poem by Jennifer Carmichael, SA
It haunts me
Where ever I go
I see it
In every coke can
In every police car
In every national flag
The cost of living
The expense of life
Slaughtering of people
Chains too tight to escape
Hopes of a nation
Coerced into consumption
Whipped into submission
Prohibition
Forcing a nation
Underground
Into darkness
Into poverty
Into criminals
The crown takes everything
Leaves nothing
For the poor
For the sick
For the hungry
Yet they smile
They hold their heads high
In glory
The crooks of capitalism
Wave their flags in pride
As their people fall
Sick, poor, hungry
Dead
Consumerism
The dark force of the government
The evil of the world
The drug of the people
The death
Of our brothers and sisters
Our fathers and our mothers
Our children
Our children’s children
Its there
Through birth
Adulthood
To death
Destruction
With every coke can we drink
In every police car we ride
In every national flag we wave
Us, the working class
Suffer
The shallow pockets
Of nationalist
Of employers
Of councils
In their comfortable leather chairs
Of glory
And greed
And we work our fingers to the bone
Bleeding
For 5o years
For a chance to retire
Only to beg for mercy
From the rulers of our country
To live
To die
Broke
Penniless
Nothing to leave behind
And the next generation
Will suffer
As we have
As we did
So will they
The constipation of our leaders
Nothing more then a number
Nothing more then a dollar sign
Forced into submission
By prohibition
Capitalism
Consumerism
And any ism
They can find
Comments