masks down in poetry

the bastards may have you buffaloed
may have you worrying on what’s possible
what’s in line with your ideological tribe
may have you confused upon what’s even real
but none of that matters in the long run
what matters is what’s humane
empathy, not loyalty or stridency
or even fact-checking the evening news
raw empathy is what can save us yet
so let your mask down

the line between being sold, between being told
we had to accept the abuses of kings
because they were “chosen by God” and
being told, being sold that we have to accept
the abuses of the born wealthy bastards because
they are “job-creators” is as straight a
historical through line as has ever existed
it’s just a cheap plastic Halloween mask
that separates their old lie from their new
tear their masks off
stand up for you
because we’re not here to kill or to conquer
acquire or accrue
build or bulldoze
we’re here to ease each others’ pain, goddamn it
comfort each other, ameliorate the suffering
don’t let those masquerade bastards
tell you any different

still, you also gotta keep in mind that
the Earth is a big ol’ passenger plane
so you gotta have your own mask on first
if you wanna be able to help others too
when the bad shit starts going down
when the madness comes to your town
self-care, kids, isn’t selfish or rude
self-care, babies, if you wanna do good
you gotta be good to yourself too
let the masks come down and breathe
let your mask down

because being humane
because helping each other
because respecting difference
that isn’t weakness
the bastards will tell you that
compassion and love are weakness
they’ll have the Fox News Barbies
sing you cruelty and avarice songs
they’ll tell you love is a weakness
but the bastards are wrong
empathy is the truest realest strength of all
they want to tell you that it’s weak
because love is harder to exploit than hate
to make a quick and dirty buck
but they’re just lying to you
they’re wrong

may we all be Social Justice Warriors
may we all be beautiful shimmering Snowflakes
may we all beat The Bastards back
with compassion understanding & love
smack down the iron fists
push away the velvet gloves
beat the bastards back with love
house to house and town to town
masks down
masks down