THE GRASSROOTS REVOLUTION: Act III – A Road Out of Ruin

The tower is falling, the system collapsing,

This chaos is planned and designed.

To make fear keep us quiet, alone behind screens,

As society fails, undermined.

This doctrine of shock and confusion

Shakes citizens down to the core.

How can we salvage our land and our peace

While criminals plot to take more?

The most powerful weapon the enemies use

Is dividing us one from another.

The neighbour who votes or prays different than you -

He’s not your foe, he’s your brother.

Remember then, people, who the real villains are

Guarding their wealth in their lairs.

We need not divide ourselves right down the middle

When the fight’s with the hoarders upstairs.

To upend one percent is not such a stretch

When we make it so they understand.

The ninety-nine do make the world go around -

And they can’t run this show without hands.

Question legitimacy. Reject a dictator

Who claws back the rights of the few.

Because one day their system might decide that you’re next -

And the jackboots are coming for you.

The depth of the crisis has sharpened our sight -

The severity of fascist rise.

When liberty’s stripped and economies falter,

The masses see truth with new eyes.

What we can do is keep telling the truth,

And calling the wrong-doers out.

Speak gently to colleagues and children and friends,

But to lawmakers - you need to shout.

As we laugh at the emperor, naked and ugly,

The tyranny loses its grip.

Without loyal followers towing the line

False power is destined to slip.

But what in the world could be better, you ask,

When we look and see all that is broken.

How can we have peace and have all our needs met,

Real change that won’t just be token?

Wrest power from billionaires stealing elections,

Let media broadcast the truth.

Stop counterfeit lies that demons disguise,

Spewing venom without any proof.

Boycott, divest from, and sanction the players

Guilty of crimes in their wars.

De-legitimize power that’s taken by force,

Stop fueling the engine of horror.

Corporations beholden to shareholder greed

Must pay up for all that they’ve taken.

Restitution for harms to the Earth and her people,

Fair payment for ethics forsaken.

Look to leaders committed to building up people

To have presence and power and worth.

Hold assemblies of citizens, call referenda,

To determine the future of Earth.

Let waters run cleanly, let’s reduce our consumption,

Let energy take on new forms.

Let there be birdsong in forests, and meals in shared kitchens,

And resilience built up to face storms.

Let children be educated, let them be fed,

Let people be free to be loved.

Let workers have rest, let wages be fair,

Let base needs be met with enough.

Goodbye hustle culture. Goodbye endless growth.

Goodbye empires with blood on their hands.

Goodbye to debt traps and to slavery wages;

These collapse when together we stand.

No prisons for profit, no billionaire class.

No planet ripped open for spoils.

No privatized water or medical care.

No chemical ruin of soils.

We need politics by and for people,

We need projects designed to endure,

We need communities choosing to gather and share,

We need government that is secure.

With solutions in waiting, we look to begin

To act on a new vision cast.

The future’s foundation is laid on today’s -

Let’s build something strong that will last.

By Bridget Lacey