Know Your Place
I am sick and tired
Of being exhausted and ill,
I can tell people how to change
Knowing they never will.
And it's not arrogance that drives
My desires.
The world is at war. It's time to
Cease fire.
For all the children who
Pour their scratches,
And pick at their bruises
And stray from matches.
For all the workers bemoaning their days,
Just look over your shoulder
And see what lays
Behind your back and beneath your sheets.
Pull them back and what greets
You are nuzzling toes flecked black
And blue.
You say you want better, but if only you knew
Your place
In this world.
Is right where you are.
Throw it away, and you'll have more than a scar
Once your life comes
Crashing down and burning up,
Over your head
Up, up, up.
Raise your hand, wait your turn.
Are you so haughty as to think only you yearn
For a better tomorrow?
Do you think you're justified in
Tearing others down to
Cover your own sin?
Blood and money cannot wash you clean,
And an empty home has no
Meaning
Without its hearth.
