When the long arm of the law
belongs to an assassin
and protests alone
can bring no satisfaction
is the only choice left
to have a violent reaction
Bloods running hot
it’s beginning to boil
and the president’s
words are like fuel oil
to nourish the flames
and add to the turmoil
From a bunker he cries
“Shoot em all dead”
“They’re just thugs”, he lies
“Can’t let them live”
“They’re not rich or white”
“They’ve nothing to give”
An inept congress
is so indecisive
they can’t make a move
without the advice of
the business man
waiting for better prices
Respect for our brothers
has long gone away
It’s so easy for us
to look the other way
when racism slips
into the fray
Hell, into the fray
it didn’t have to slip
It busted through
with an unsuspected pip
and grabbed at the throat
with a vise-like grip
So now the streets
are exploding
fires are raging
bullets are loading
one small spark
could send bodies floating
Can we all step back
just for a bit
let cooler heads
make sense of it
before the whole world
turns to shit
Let’s do our part
at the ballot booth
Where we can finally
learn the truth
if there’ll be a nation
left to give our youth
Jerry Brotherton 