New Glass Currency Standard

Immodestly, I propose that broken glass
substitute gold in our federal reserves and
that the shards of all our nation's riots
become the standard by our currency is judged.

Because when there's nothing left to be sold in America,
and there's nothing left to buy,
we'll still need something to call our own.

Maybe we'll stop carrying bills and coins in our pockets
and replace them with broken glass.
When we reach in to pay for a purchase
we might cut ourselves, then
remember what all currency is really based on.

In Seattle the newscasters cry -
"Where have all the good protesters gone?"
They mourn the lost windows of
Starbucks, Disney and Niketown;
and ask the mass to take it all back.
They never asked Clinton to apologize for Iraq;
the Gap to bring back the Mendocino forest,
or Nike to say sorry to the world's poorest.
If today the people walk with a pair of Air Jordans
call it a short term deposit on a longterm revolution.

Because inbetween the concussion grenades and tear gas,
a man stands on the corner with a clarinet
playing a simple requiem for the dead of
Waco, Philadelphia, and Acteal.
The blue notes and breaking of glass begin to repay a debt long delinquent.

By James Tracy
Copied-right from "Struggle"
PO BOX 13261, DETROIT MI 48213 - timhall11@yahoo.com