the edge of change in poetry

corner a generation with medical bills
student loans and subsistence jobs
give us nothing to lose
see what happens

they’re arresting us for our loans now, again
spending more to muster the federal marshals
than the outstanding loans
no doubt debtor’s prisons next, again
but more important than that
they’re sending a message with all that money

stay down

they’re sending a message with all that manpower
they’re telling us each that
we are nothing

stay down
you are nothing

they’re almost right
they are very nearly right
we are, each of us, almost nothing
you are almost nothing
I am almost nothing
any one of us is almost nothing

but a whole lot of almost nothing
aggregates into something

I don’t have an answer
I don’t have an action
I am just a coward with a pen
but I know that you should
stand up
I know that you are
more than nothing

stand up
you are more than nothing and
as someone with nothing left to lose
oh man
I an interested
to see what happens
next

Last updated February 17, 2016