Why write so many songs about politics,
as if to change the world
by sleight of hand and fireworks,
as of one verse could outweigh
the great machinations of history,
as of the man at the wheel even cared?
Why not write a book instead,
or love another person well,
or learn to cook,
or raise a child?
When we go down
into the filth and garbage
of the sidewalk world
and come up again into our flats,
gasping and clutching for decency,
our oily souls slough off conviction's coil.
We find it simpler, all around
to stick it to the man
and write a song
and go to bed.