RHETORICAL VERSE /
SEVEN (software-verifiable) SHAKESPEAREAN-FORM SONNETS
and ONE HAIKU
{ACS.098_01} "THEY HATE US FOR OUR FREEDOM," shouts the Prince
{ACS.098_02} of Bullshit -- knowing everyone agrees
{ACS.098_03} that FREEDOM's good, and no one is so dense
{ACS.098_04} they'd argue we don't have it all we please.
{ACS.098_05} WELL, call me Rock, or Stone, or Concrete Block;
{ACS.098_06} but if George Dubya says it, it's pure crap.
{ACS.098_07} Yes, "freedom" must be bullshit if that flock
{ACS.098_08} of turkeys in the White House wings will flap ..
{ACS.098_09} ... that signal marking their attempt to fly.
{ACS.098_10} BUT BULLSHIT DOES NOT FLY in this domain,
{ACS.098_11} no more than turkeys sail into the sky.
{ACS.098_12} Birds dumb enough to drown themselves with rain.
{ACS.098_13} Enough name-calling, now it's time to show
{ACS.098_14} those shouts of "freedom" are malapropos.
{ACS.099_01} WHAT'S "FREEDOM" MEAN if we seem to believe
{ACS.099_02} there's very little we could ever change.
{ACS.099_03} And futile, anyway, we'd just deceive
{ACS.099_04} ourselves, since all the good's within the range ...
{ACS.099_05} ... of "how we do it now." Since we've the best
{ACS.099_06} design of how to live than anyone
{ACS.099_07} in all the world. We know that we are blessed.
{ACS.099_08} Our system beats the rest beneath the sun.
{ACS.099_09} NO WE CANNOT IMAGINE how our lives
{ACS.099_10} could be much diff'rent, other than more wealth.
{ACS.099_11} More money means more freedom. That thought drives
{ACS.099_12} the limit of our "choices." (Pray for health.)
{ACS.099_13} WITHOUT IMAGINATION freedom's void
{ACS.099_14} of meaning, other than how we're employed.
{ACS.100_01} SUPPOSE that you're IN ALLENTOWN to speak
{ACS.100_02} on THE ECONOMY. The stage is set
{ACS.100_03} in an abandoned factory -- the leak
{ACS.100_04} of jobs to other nations what you get ...
{ACS.100_05} ... if blah blah blah. (Just fill in what you will.)
{ACS.100_06} BUT WHAT IF you declined to speak of "JOBS"?
{ACS.100_07} How quickly you'd be branded imbecile
{ACS.100_08} by all from Six-Pack Suzies to Joe Snobs.
{ACS.100_09} "ECONOMY" means "JOBS." We all know that.
{ACS.100_10} The freedom's in what job that you will take.
{ACS.100_11} You are responsible to find a hat
{ACS.100_12} that you can wear. Your future is at stake.
{ACS.100_13} The president has nothing she can do
{ACS.100_14} about that fact. It's really up to you.
{ACS.101_01} The president might have a bit of say
{ACS.101_02} about who will get rich dispensing slots
{ACS.101_03} that you might fill, but there is not much play
{ACS.101_04} in concepts that can never change their spots.
{ACS.101_05} On Showtime's "Dead Like Me" the cast is dead,
{ACS.101_06} but that just means they have two jobs not one.
{ACS.101_07} A falling toilet smashed our hero's head --
{ACS.101_08} she now works 9 to 5, and when she's done ...
{ACS.101_09} ... has extra Post-It notes to execute.
{ACS.101_10} And after high school Buffy had to flip
{ACS.101_11} some burgers when not slaying (her strong suit).
{ACS.101_12} A presidential candidate can't slip ...
{ACS.101_13} ... in other options. THE ECONOMY
{ACS.101_14} means JOBS JOBS JOBS. What else is there to see?
{ACS.102_01} THE PEOPLE AREN'T ALLOWED to ever think
{ACS.102_02} of anything beyond the next device
{ACS.102_03} that they can purchase if their jobs don't stink
{ACS.102_04} "so bad" they can't afford the product's price.
{ACS.102_05} THEIR EDUCATION must prepare their minds
{ACS.102_06} to stay on track and not derail the train
{ACS.102_07} of "how things work." Although there's many kinds
{ACS.102_08} of cogs to be, we must pre-fry your brain ...
{ACS.102_09} BURN OUT IMAGINATION when you're young.
{ACS.102_10} The playful minds of children must be stripped
{ACS.102_11} of trouble-making circuits -- still their tongue.
{ACS.102_12} Prescriptions if they cannot sit tight-lipped.
{ACS.102_13} AUTHORITY's installed. That's more the goal
{ACS.102_14} than knowledge. By the end they'll fit some role.
{ACS.103_01} SUCH CHILDREN GROWN can spell right freedom's name
{ACS.103_02} and will believe in it so strong they'll fight
{ACS.103_03} whatever wars they're told to in the game
{ACS.103_04} of bullshit-spreaders on the left and right.
{ACS.103_05} "Well, he's the president -- his will be done,"
{ACS.103_06} THE MIDDLE EDUCATED will explain,
{ACS.103_07} if asked, why they are sending off their son
{ACS.103_08} to give his life for freedom -- to contain ...
{ACS.103_09} ... the enemies of "freedom" which they're sure
{ACS.103_10} beyond a doubt we have -- our truest gift.
{ACS.103_11} No matter if you're rich or you are poor.
{ACS.103_12} The air that gives the eagles wings their lift.
{ACS.103_13} But though the eagle flies, the children won't.
{ACS.103_14} `IMAGINATION's labeled, "Kids, Please Don't."
{ACS.104_01} DISMISSING ALL IDEAS if they don't fit
{ACS.104_02} "the way things are" means no alternative
{ACS.104_03} can be examined. Added to our kit
{ACS.104_04} of possibilities for how we live.
{ACS.104_05} Except for smaller cellphones, safer cars
{ACS.104_06} Americans are not prepared to wish
{ACS.104_07} for changes. Maybe television stars
{ACS.104_08} will fade away as we watch Amish fish ...
{ACS.104_09} ... the streams of culture out in Hollywood.
{ACS.104_10} When we are through with them, a G.E.D.
{ACS.104_11} will seem a normal thing these Amish should
{ACS.104_12} achieve. And then to college for degree.
{ACS.104_13} We'll free them from their cultural constraints
{ACS.104_14} so they can buy the ones that TV paints.
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