Rulers/Rebels

Table of contents

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I have lived under many

dystopian regimes.

Rulers come,

and rulers topple,

children die

in some sad squabble,

rockets fly,

launched full throttle.

You know what I’ve never seen?

Utopia,

land of perfection,

an ecosystem of happy interdependency,

world of the safe

and the free

and the equal.

Where breed the clean,

the healthy;

when will the unseen

get their pictures

hung in the ruler’s hall?

When they own

the place

themselves?

Oh remember

remember,

the lonely

remember,

the happy and able

the twisted, unstable,

come rulers

and rebels

set aside this fight,

come rich ones

and beggars

duke it out for the lies,

divide and conquer,

they said,

we must win,

the others pled,

make us all

one

make us into

one

make us all the same

so we will never cry

against our allies

again–

I have seen dystopias

and I have seen societies

eat and be eaten and die,

seen brand new life come alive;

just be patient, rebels,

your new rule is on the rise.