I have seen the judges
defining the law
to benefit their friends and relatives
and their pet causes
while the widows and orphans
go without shelter or a hearing.
I have seen Pharaohs with a smile
rising to lord it over their equals,
making themselves gods
in the name of freedom,
democracy, equality.
I have seen these small kings
swaggering down the streets
and sucking cigars in limos
while they race between
mistresses and casinos.
They have pronounced the rest of us
suckers and serfs
for having failed to grab
the public by the balls
and squeeze them
for all they are worth.
I have seen the ghosts
of minute men
and founding fathers
whispering "slaves".
They shake their heads
and wag their fingers
at this moral decay.
knowing as we know
that Adams, Washington
and many of the rest
preached an aristocracy
of genteel wealth,
not an aristocracy
of bastards
out for all they can get.
Democracy remains in hiding,
a bold idea, dangerous in any age,
waiting for a time of ripening,
when minds, fickle as they are,
can bring forth true self government.