I remember the lights going off in the brains of young poets.

Deep in the dank streets of new york or Columbia college.

When the blues and twos would come and round up

The beatniks snapping to the howl of a homosexual mind.

When the generational attitudes of those too old to know,

Control the sodomy acts of “violence”, or 

The deepening scars of our philosophies.

When the great in the country isn’t good enough

For the red hats and spray tanned millionaires.

When the effeminate couldn’t find their lost primaries

Or control the lifeblood leaking out of the Strait of Hormuz.  

When the powered halogen lights flooded prison yards of 

Wrongly convicted and murderously in need of help.

When the San francisco clubs lit up with muzzle flash

And the dancers lay weeping in their blood.

When the schools became places to duck and cover,

Or learn to trip a friend when running from a gun.

When parkland high became a manufacturing ground

For casings, tears, and candlelight vigils.

When the american dream came combo packaged

And supersized with obesity and unemployment.

When the education of the youth became about

The profit margin in a spreadsheet full of debt.

When the sun sets in the smoke filled horizons

And sleepless rest settles on the western front.