amass

your voices
if only they can be as strong
as you hope
shape them with breathe
and fury
to be a slave
to justice

try to ignore their reply
of metal and powder
exhaled through steel lips
pursed
shouting faster than the speed of sound

there will be time enough
for candles
and prayers
and martyrs
the wounded and dead
will be tended to
like red memories

do not let your hands
be cuffed
anywhere but
before your mouth
do not let your doubts
be heard
by anyone
by yourself

barricade the streets
and your resolve
with
half understood ideas of democracy
and rust and wire
with
words shouted in unison
and disabled  machines
with
splayed wood and crumpled newspaper
and fidelity to the future

one is a demonstration
the other a crowd
one is a mob
the other a mass

Maybe for the Rest of Your Life (song)

Waiting outside a truck stop where he'll spend the night
Maybe not today, maybe for the rest of his life
Tips his baseball cap at the women passing by
Last year's team weren't nothing
All they did was try

Riding the bus West, watching  her past slip from sight
Maybe not today, maybe for the rest of her life
Packed a bag with regrets and made sure to leave it behind
Pushes her hands in her pockets, wonders what she might find

   CHORUS
     None are so blind as those we will not see
     Stepping forward into uncertainty
     Most things don't come easy, even fewer are black and white
     Maybe not today, maybe for the rest of your life

Lost his job in Bakersfield, same as all his friends
Heard there's work out East, in Chicago or South Bend
Kicks his tire and looks across, the highway that's nearby
Everyones in a hurry, most of 'em aren't sure why

Left her folks one night, before her bed was even warm
Snuck out through the backdoor, just like she'd always swore
Momma took her sacraments but mostly drank the wine
Daddy thought himself a prophet, hope he's wrong this time

    CHORUS

He leaves his grandma a message to say he's doing fine
Maybe not today, maybe for the rest of his life
Cracks his window, let's the engine run, smell of gasoline in the air
Elvis on the radio, sounds just like a prayer

She smiles on the noisey bus as the rain beats down outside
Maybe not today, maybe for the rest of her life
Leans her head against the window with her jacket on the glass
Falls asleep to the voices, that sound like Sunday mass

     CHORUS