Lifes Work

Letters To A Young Poet

Little Boxes

December 29, 2006 — Filed under: song lyrics

Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky-tacky, Little boxes, little boxes, Little boxes, all the same. There’s a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same. And the people in the houses All go to the university, And they all get put in boxes, Little boxes, all the same. And there’s doctors and there’s lawyers And business executives, And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same. And they all play on the golf-course, And drink their Martini dry, And they all have pretty children, And the children go to school. And the children go to summer camp And then to the university, And they all get put in boxes And they all come out the same. And the boys go into business, And marry, and raise a family, And they all get put in boxes, Little boxes, all the same. There’s a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same. by Malvina Reynolds

Youth is wasted on the young

December 20, 2006 — Filed under: mypoems

Youth is wasted on the young Privilege and power is wasted on the old The old send the young off to die Do they graph their profits using bodies on the x-axis? We are the hooded figure standing naked on a box We are held hostage by the lies Just mere lambs being led to the slaughter Can you keep yourself from taking that final step Into that gas chamber of a shower The only way to end the fear, the control Is to understand the past, not just the popular history But the real ugly truth that lays underneath the hype