By Ernie McCray
Obama first sold young people
on “Change we can Believe In”
and now Bernie
has them thinking along those lines again
in deeper ways
and I love watching their faces
at his rallies when he says to them
“Change comes from the bottom to the top.”
Their faces light up
as he teaches them how
they might best proceed
as they strive to meet
their world’s desperate needs.
One can see the potential for hope
in their eyes
the more they come to realize
that his message is true,
that what he talks
he’s walked
and is still walking,
step by step,
day after day after day,
illustrating how one lives
a truly “progressive” life.
He’s got them
raring to go
and wishing
that we older folks
would join them
in making America
live up to its constitutional promises –
but we
rattle on about
how he’s not realistic
and we ask
“What has he accomplished?”
and we say he’s sexist
and downright feckless
and uncontrollably reckless
as though a senator
couldn’t possibly have any political skills
that a president could use.
But if we gave the man his due
we’d come to the view
that he’s already
changed the conversation,
and that’s what this world needs now,
reflection:
looking at concepts like socialism, and the like,
with new enlightened eyes;
analyzing how the greedy among the super-rich,
like the oligarchs they are,
chip away at the quality of our lives;
giving us a chance, if we’re wise,
to take a big step
towards the making of a new way of life,
a step way more to the left of what we’ve called the left,
a step in step
with our nation’s young human beings
who are coming to understand
that it’s their world to change
and they’re more than ready to do it
“from the bottom to the top.”
What a gift to us
from a man who has toiled for us
to be at this place,
at this time,
since way back when,
a man who has shined
a brilliant light
on a path he’s set us on,
a path taking us closer to a
“Change we can Believe In.”
I absolutely love the man.
Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This has the potential to be the revolution we were trying to start way back when. Looking back it is sometimes hard to see where the bait and switch happened. I’m thinking it was Ford’s pardon of Nixon. Then we knew that the whole corrupt system would do anything to perpetuate itself, no matter what. Now we are at a similar inflection point. Those of us who went through the anti=draft, eco= wars etc. are pretty much obligated to vote/support Bernie with these youngsters. Really, what other legacy do we have to leave.
Amen!