the call of democracy
i was at the voting booth today.
i saw my friends there.
it gave me hope.
hope much greater than
election outcomes marred by
systemic shortcomings
of brutalized nations
on the verge of
collapse.
i felt a call from within.
i hate the word ‘vote’
in shambles, images burnt into my mind:
signs, screaming, desperation, complacency.
but i biked up that long hill
with two flat tires
and cast my ballot.
on the way down the hill
i thought about my old friend Jaggi
who was on the CBC National the other night
arguing against voting in the federal election.
and the irony of course is
his commentary on national television
is a powerful exercise in democracy itself
for which i do respect my old friend.
this is the synthesis:
when an informed critical pespective bursts onto
mainstream middle-class televisions
encouraging people to re-evaluate the legitimacy of the electoral system
whilst my friends,
artists and believers
strategic conceivers
finally show up at the booths
in the practice of democracy
for this is what it was meant to be:
a collective manifestation
a scape for culture crafting.
let us take the reigns of this political beast
and re-inject it with the artist’s touch
dig into our pallettes, bust out the brush
and paint what it looks like
when beauty runs the world.