Photo by: Susan Jaffer

Political Soundtrack   

Every Sunday, I came dressed in punk rocker black,

checkered pants, steel-toed Docs.

No tie dye on me when I joined

the Chester County Peace Movement.

I lined up at the corner of High and Market,

still and silent, even when City Hall suits sneered hippies,

the Chester County Victory Movement chanted troop-

.....haters,

the families in SUVs blared horns and shouted unpatriotic.

High-gel hair attorneys glared.

Some protestors stepped back and whispered,

Is he here to join us or blow up the courthouse?

But my combat boots hadn't marched on the sands of Iraq.

I was always the one to break up brawls,

mute my guitar if circle pits exploded into fights.

As protestors marched and sang

Dylan's prophetic "The Times They Are A Changin'"

and Lennon's piano-laced "Imagine,"

I heard the words of Joe Strummer:

You'll be dead when your war is won,

and Dead Kennedys' singer Jello Biafra:

There's easy money, easy jobs,

especially when you build the bombs

that blow big cities off the map.

I stood still even when pushed

by a Victory Movement thug jabbing

his finger in my chest and screaming,

You don't have the balls to fight in Iraq!

I plugged my ears with my I-pod and listened

to Henry Rollins roar over sloppy Black Flag chords:

Try to stop us. It's no use.

We're gonna rise above, rise above.