Our Revolution

O'Brien brought it to the RNC,
like Daniel singing in the lions' den.
Indifferent to Trump's antipathy,
he won't treat corporations like real men.
The message Bernie labored to get heard
may travel further in another voice;
more crucial than the spokesman, are the words,
and how real voters understand their choice.
Two parties, each beholden to big banks
pay court to union leaders on the sly
to serve up voters in their files and ranks
as if democracy were theirs to buy.
While other speakers worship Trump's fat ass,
this Teamster champions the working class.

the royal writ

Eight legs lent Sleipnir traction on the snow;

it wouldn't do for Odin to get stuck.
The Roman fashion, building cobbled roads,
would need a labor force that gave a fuck.
Heroic architecture's rare, of course,
Reliant as it is on taxing funds.
No king could build such things of he were Norse;
what one boat's crew can't do, did not get done.
The Book of Judges shills for monarchy
to tax, and underwrite as may seem good.
Portraying tribal life as anarchy,
where individuals did as they would.
Each libertarian needs all-wheel-drive
where workers don't contribute to the hive.

Czarist dreams

Joe Stalin deemed the Finns must quickly fold;
he'd move the border, then get home for tea.
Unburied legions died there in the cold
Finn snipers picked them off from every tree.
Three generations later, it's Ukraine
where Putin's staked his honor on a win.
No medals for the nameless who'll be slain;
no officer to call the next of kin.
Like Uber, he prefers to contract out
and leave no fingerprints if they should die.
He'll celebrate a win, deny a rout;
there's always someone else's son to buy.
Ukrainians don't mind goliath's big;
they're fighting for their country, not a gig.

Square Deal

O'Rourke brings elevated tone, and poise;
it's substance that his presentations lack.
Once voters look beyond the charm and noise,
he won't stand out from 2020's pack.
Ms. Clinton ran a vacuous campaign;
as next-in-line, she felt it can't be tough. 
But she can't sell us Bill's "I feel your pain",
and being just not-Trump was not enough.
A new Ted Roosevelt is over-due
to give our Workers dignity and voice.
McCarthy's dead, we're primed for something new.
Liz Warren's running as the people's choice.
"Each generation" Jefferson foretold
must innovate, or shrivel in the cold.

values

Bill Clinton sold his party to the Banks
abandoning the Workers to their plight
presuming Unions, in their file, and rank
would still embrace a party of the Right.
Ted Cruz can reminisce about a strike
that gave his father dignity, and work
but 99% bear his tax hike;
Americans are not sold on this jerk.
'Though party leadership is moribund,
the GreatSociety dream's not yet dead.
Free-thinkers whom the poobahs didn't fund
still understand what Europe means by "red".
The Labor unrest Teddy Roosevelt quelled
could yet consign the Clintons' clique to Hell.

trade wars II

The word from Harley-Davidson was blunt:
this TradeWar's hurting workers now and here.
But economics make no sense to Trump;
his strategy's all zero-sum and fear.
A second Gilded Age gleams poised to bust
as Management drives Labor to its knees.
Another factory's consigned to rust
as manufacturing flees overseas.
A labor sector Democrats long owned
went elsewhere as Bill Clinton wooed big banks.
With each betray'l class consciousness gets honed
and Socialists enlist more in their ranks.
A world ablaze, sparked by one demagogue
who's dumb enough to wrestle with a HOG.

trade wars

The word from Harley-Davidson was blunt:
this TradeWar's hurting workers now and here.
But economics make no sense to Trump;
his strategy's all zero-sum and fear.
A second Gilded Age gleams poised to bust
as Management drives Labor to its knees.
Another factory's consigned to rust
as manufacturing flees overseas.
A labor sector Democrats long owned
went elsewhere as Bill Clinton wooed big banks.
With each betray'l class consciousness gets honed
and Socialists enlist more in their ranks.
The Revolution's hour draws nigh to strike
as Paul Revere roars in astride his 'bike.

Russo III

Symbolic speech, like Kaepernick employed
enjoys robust protection by the First
Amendment; laws that ban it must be void.
Allegiance is a farce, if it's coerced.
But in the workplace, laxer rules obtain; 
employment can depend on staying mute.
The contract's all about mutual gain
and Management wins when there's a dispute.
A lot of teams could use his good right arm
but none dare face Trump's tantrums and his ire
while Donald warns attendance would take harm
if Colin were the quarterback they'd hire.
Trump wants Black athletes quiet in their place
but still pretends he didn't run on race.

Russo II

Symbolic speech, like Kaepernick displayed
enjoys robust protection by the First
Amendment against laws that might be made.
Allegiance is a farce, if it's coerced.
But in the workplace, laxer rules obtain; 
employment can depend on staying mute.
The contract's all about mutual gain
and Management wins when there's a dispute.
A lot of teams could use his good right arm
but none dare face Trump's tantrums and his ire
while Donald warns attendance would take harm
if Colin were the quarterback they'd hire.
Trump wants Black athletes quiet in their place
but still pretends he didn't run on race.

who speaks for justice?

Trump's loyalty's a purely one-way street;
Jeff Sessions knew he'd never have his back.
The liegelord wants his fealty complete,
but underlings endure bizarre attacks.
No one would take the job had he inquired;
no one who's worked for Trump survived it well.
The few who haven't quit were rudely fired
by all accounts, this guy's the boss from Hell.
In all the Senate, Trump found just one man
to whom his ravings seemed a worthy goal.
'Though this one brought the backing of the Klan
they're at each other's throats, out of control.
A century of U.S. influence
is over. Now we'd settle for mere Pence.

disloyal

Trump's loyalty's a purely one-way street
Jeff Sessions can't expect he'd have his back
the liegelord wants his fealty complete
but underlings endure bizarre attacks.
No one would take the job had he inquired
no one who's worked for Trump survived it well.
The few who haven't quit were rudely fired
by all accounts, this guy's the boss from Hell.
In all the Senate, Trump found just one man
to whom his ravings seemed a worthy goal
'though this one brought the backing of the Klan
they're down and dirty, wrestling for control.
A Team of Rivals 'cumbered Lincoln's job 
but Trump's outsourced it to the Russian mob.

squalid

Each passing week, Trump's wits degenerate;
he can't remember where his thoughts began.
His fixed conviction that he's doing great
sustains him ('though he doesn't have a plan).
The labor nominee he failed to vet
was pulled from confirmation amid strife.
The fifty-one votes that he couldn't get
were sympathetic to his battered wife.
The media gave Puzder zero press
a small debacle in Trump's tale of woe.
Domestic battery's a trifling mess
when ethic standards have been set so low.
A nation tired of such incompetence
is finding less to hate about Mike Pence

civic burden

the rhythmic rasp of shovels on concrete
responds to snow new-fallen in the night
the neighborhood converges in the street
this job can't wait until it's fully light
debates abound as to the perfect tool
but steel or plastic, backs bend to the work
the children need a path to walk to school
the common task that no one gets to shirk
as Norman Rockwell  might depict the scene
if he explored a work in monochrome
the trees are bare, snow cloaks the evergreen
the streetlamps barely reach the nearest home
'til spade-work yields to electricity
ennobling labor builds community

cubicles

John Maynard Keynes knew spending is the drive
that keeps economies in robust health
when capital is idle, none can thrive
it's only gold's dynamics that make wealth
the State's employer of the last resort
although it comes with dental benefit
except for officers of the law court
the work is mostly crap, in triplicate
each bureaucrat pent in her tiny cell
partitions only four or five feet high
define the labyrinthine map of Hell
where souls and inspiration go to die
absorbing bound'ry of the Labor Pool
tyrannical administrative tool

Madge

John Maynard Keynes knew spending is the drive
that keeps economies in robust health
when capital lies idle, none can thrive
it's only gold's dymamics that  make wealth
the State's employer of the last resort
although it comes with dental benefits
except for officers of the law court
the work is mostly crap, in triplicate
each bureaucrat pent in her tiny cell
partitions only four or five feet high
define the labyrinthine map of Hell
where souls and inspiration go to die
absorbing bound'ry of the labor pool
tyrannical administrative tool

decoupled

"comparative advantage" fuels Free Trade
Ricardo showed how all can benefit
by optimizing where our goods are made
deploying effort with the keenest wit
but wages can't stay fixed when labor's scant
and when it's too abundant, tend to fall
until they unionize, the workers can't
leave penury; they're up against the wall
that "giant sucking sound" fell hard on Flint
where union wages built the Middle Class
when AutoWorkers failed to take the hint
whole factories were turned out on their ass
upheaval threatens all they once held dear
and Fascists ride the politics of fear        

woman's work

the textile arts proved Agamemnon's bane
instead of robes, he dried out in a net
his life spilled out like water down the drain
immortalized in verse, so none forget
Penelope wrought night-long at her loom
a gorgeous shroud of regal length and breadth
to wrap Laertes in his fam'ly tomb
her virtue's no less certain than his death
her cousin's web was knotted dense with hate
as she slept with his cousin on the sly
to snip off short her husband's thread of fate
surviving war, he came back home to die
no towel greeted Klytemnestra's lord
whose lady-like white  hand gripped firm his sword   

backlash

the ArabSpring proposed to liberate
a free Islam for a new, freer age
beyond the tyrants' politics of hate
 religion full of love, and not of rage
IslamicState sprang up as from the sand
opposed to all hints of modernities
afraid lest wives and daughters understand
their place need not be always on their knees
uneducated men perceived the threat
as work is less about one's strength of arm
smart women won't accept their fates are set
since they can run a business or the farm
mechanization overturned their worlds
contributing to ISIL's war on girls

Industrial revolution

the ArabSpring proposed to liberate
a free Islam for a new, freer age
beyond the tyrants' politics of hate
religion full of love, and not of rage
Islamic State sprang up as from the sand
opposed to all  hints of modernity
afraid lest wives and daughters understand
their place need not be always on their knees
uneducated men perceived the threat
as work was less about one's strength of arm
smart women won't accept their fates as set
since they can run a business or the farm
mechanization over-turned their worlds
contributing to ISIL's war on girls