your minions are dying
we seem to have allowed ourselves this fate
we seem to have asked for this
but maybe we didn’t know what we were asking for
I
we thought we were doing the right thing
when we chose you
but I suppose that’s what all battered housewives say
“he wasn’t like this when I met him”
“he’s a good man, really”
but it was only after we accepted you
that you asked us to sacrifice
you told us to have faith
like all those preachers who ask you to give
when you’ll only be rewarded after you’re dead
(if you believe ‘em)
you told us we’d be free
if we stayed together as a family
and it was like you placed your hand on a Bible
and asked us to give up more for you
(don’t most dictators ask their followers
to sacrifice until they’ve been sapped dry?)
II
you weren’t the only one fighting for me, you know
you had competition
you both tried to woo us over,
even though you two were
more alike than you think
(who am I kidding,
you two were just like everyone else)
you two were two sides of the same coin
yeah, yeah, you may have been opposite sides
but you were the same damn coin
you all wanted us to trust you
and even though we were harmless
you still pulled out all of your weaponry
to keep us in line
when we weren’t looking,
all while saying
it was for our own good
with you two, my choice
was to either
jump in and drown in someone’s abuse
or be dragged in by the other
for the same fate
III
you can keep throwing your generalities at us
and expect us to eat it up
like hungry animals
waiting for your handouts
but if we were hungry animals,
we’d take what you gave us,
then kill you and eat your remains
but we’re not animals
so stop treating us like fools
IV
yeah, you had competition
but no one could save us from your fate,
you all were just so much alike
that we only had to choose the lesser of two evils
but did we make the right choice?
V
you keep saying you’ll make me feel safe
but all I can think of
is that dictators
historically played on fear
to make their minions
feel like they need their leader
well, you don’t make me feel more safe
you make me feel more scared
and I wonder if I can take care of myself
and I never needed any of you anyway
VI
others have come along
and tried to save me from the likes of you
but they never told me how I could be free
I never knew how I was going to be rescued
when I was little
I played office with my friend Sheri
we had a little board painted white
with little toggle switches stuck on it
and buttons and dials on it
it probably had the ear piece of a phone on it too
and we had this little control panel,
this little console
sitting on our little desk
and we’d sit there with it
and press a lot of buttons
and we’d flip the toggle switches up and down
and act like we were receiving important calls
and it looked like we were doing something
it looked like we were accomplishing things
and all you men, you all say you have a plan
but I haven’t seen it
I haven’t seen how you can
save me from the madness
you men are trying to flip those damn toggle switches
and you don’t know what the Hell they do
but you’ll act like you know,
and you’ll act like you’re accomplishing something
are we supposed to blindly accept
whatever the likes of you hand out to us?
VII
you try to act like you can save us
but there are people dying over here,
we’re jobless, homeless, dying
we’re drowning in this ocean of helplessness
and we’ll grab on to whatever line
we can get a hold of
is that why we counted on you
but your minions won’t be stong enough
to support you forever
Copyright Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.
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