I Feel Sad ~ James Kavanaugh

Here is one of the writings of James Kavanaugh.

This was published back in 1982

so some of the references

may seem dated, however,

the issues remain the same in a

roundabout way if you

substitute one country for another, etc.

Please keep in mind

that these words do not come from myself.

So, while I appreciate this message as a whole,

there may be parts that I don't necessarily agree with.

Sad that needs to preface this but I think it does.

I Feel Sad

I feel sad about my country lately

When damn near everyone I know

thinks it's okay to take money away

from the disabled and the old

as long as we increase military spending

and are certain beyond all paranoia

that we can take Russia out

faster and more completely

than Russia can take us out.

My buddy Danny tells me

that we're getting rid of the freeloaders

and I know damn well

he doesn't mean the rich people

who invest in feed lots

they don't see or want,

or get oil and mineral

and agricultural allowances

they don't need or deserve.

I confess I've occasionally wondered

about some of the people I see

with food stamps

and I suppose I've griped

my share about welfare.

But, I do notice

that the most expensive restaurants

are still crowded,

the Mercedes are as common

as VW's once were,

Fifth Avenue and Rodeo Drive

seem as active as ever,

while the aged and the poor

seem shabbier and more defeated

than I've ever seen them in my lifetime,

too intimidated and nervous

even to whisper of revolution.

I feel sad about my country lately

because it lost it's morals

somewhere between

Korea and Watergate,

and lost it's heart

somewhere between this recession

and the last.

Now the strangers

buy our banks and

the immigrants our fast foods

and we take any dollar

or ruble we can get

to satisfy an appetite

as insatiable as the fear

that creates it

content to build cheap barracks

and call them homes,

content to widen the massive gulf

between rich and poor,

content above all

to defend a country

with the expensive

nuclear trinkets of a paranoia

bred of greed and fear

and most unmanly men.

I never knew a brave nation

could be so reprehensible,

that a dollar could mean so much

or a life so little,

and I'm very sad.

-James Kavanaugh

from the book Maybe if I Loved You More