If (Revisited for the 2020s, with no apologies to Kipling and Dr Seuss)

If you can keep your head
when you’re surrounded by idiots
who blindly believe

If you dream of a future
where no one goes hungry,
no one in need

If your head spins from lies,
corruption and greed,
from sources empowered,
trusted to read. us the news.

If you care about kindness
and feel pain when others,
are hurt due to ignorance
of assholes unkind.

If you respect all creation,
and don’t understand,
why people and creatures
suffer at the hands
of inhumane humans
who don’t have a plan
to make anything better
if they can’t make a buck,
I know they all mock us,
think we’re all dumb as fuck
keep telling us it’s just
a run of bad luck
while they reap giant profits
Did i say reap? I meant SUCK
till there’s nothing to suck
because they’ve sucked it all up

If you believe in equality
and justice for all,
while living in horror
or hiding or fear
at the hateful who profit
by war and division
and shameless abuse
of the poor and the meek

If everything around you
seems way too insane,
a fucked up new normal,
a pain in the brain,
each new profanity
a breath of insanity,
making the last one
seem comfortable, fuzzy and warm.

If this is a world
that ain’t one you prefer,
and the people in power
seem doomed to make things worse

If you keep falling and getting back up
when the world seems dead set
on knocking your ass
right back to the pavement
as soon as you do.

If making things better
still seems important,
even after all
we’ve all been through

Then remember one thing,
my friend most of all.
The bigger the asshole,
the louder they fall

For so many have eyes
but refuse to be able
to see through the lies
to the truth on the table
in Freedom’s last light
We fade into denial
with barely a fight,
Staring into the Void
of our future destroyed
Pretending the darkness
Is too fucking bright

time to wake up now
the nightmare won’t end until we do
If…

Jamie Gray is a songwriter from upstate NY

Someone Else’s Job

If you STILL think it doesn’t matter
If you think I should shut up
If you try to justify your silence
Because you fear that bad things might come
If you don’t hold your tongue
If you watch in horror at the hatred
Then close your eyes, walk away
If you’d rather run than fight
It’s someone else’s problem, you say.

I’m not gonna judge you.
You can fucking judge yourself.
After the coming flood
When your world is washed away
Because you thought that
Filling sandbags was someone else’s job

One nation, under fascist occupation.

Twas the Weekend Before Christmas

Twas the weekend before Christmas
We were broke as could be
We were freezing our asses
By the fire and TV
When what did our half-frozen
eyeballs then spy
Was a snowstorm to bury
All our firewood in ice
It got colder and colder
We shivered and shook
As the wind howled and sliced
Out the window we looked
More snow was falling
I can’t wait till it melts
The basement gets flooded
mud up to our belts
May your Christmas be white
May your driveway stay plowed
May we all make it through
All this hate, fear and doubt.
May the season bring joy
May you somehow find peace
In the dark years ahead
Love and light will not cease.
~