The Experiment

Is there a place for us
In this great experiment
Corrupted by out-liars
Corroded by fear

Is there justice for us
Standing without kin in kind
Without weapon in mind
Our hands above us

You assault
With mental stones and doubting tones
Pervert jabs and callous slaps
Wanton lies and complicit ties

How will truth ring loud
On a racket stage
How will reason appear
In a blood sport play

Is there freedom for us
Always looking behind
Hunted by lurid shadows
Our arms around us

You violate
Norms of behavior, codes of conduct
Order of law, rule of decency
But we are the defendants on trial
The subjects of scrutiny

Is there safety for us
As we fight the moral frontier
Our gaze averted
Our eyes clear

Is there sovereignty for us
As we gamble our corporeal lot
Our hearts arrested
Our efforts dear

We defend
With bare arms and clenched fists
Open scabs and full-hearted claps
Vocal fries and deepening sighs

Smile of irony and steel
Silence with policy and zeal
Bake cookies with salt
And savor the debate
Plant flowers in concrete
And claim our mistakes

Renaissance of a revolution
Evergreen and everlasting
A measure of sane verbiage
A threshold for real courage

We endure
Mobs of insanity, men of hypocrisy
The worst of humanity
For the choice that is ours to make
The voice you cannot break

Yes we can
Is not a cry of consent
I will vote
Is not the snivel of the surrendered

Because the place for us
In this test of the republic
Is not at the finish
But at the first

The first to set the values
The model to which others lean
The first to break the trend
The signal that means an end

The experiment was not designed for us
But we are here anyway
Crusading for our dignity
Battling threats to country
Honoring our role in history
Let it not be said
That the time for the experiment is already past

That this is the final count
That this is the last