Both Sides of the Road

BOTH SIDES OF THE ROAD

Camp Reality

You are only pretend heroes in movies and on television. Come back
to the real White House, the real world, and the real heroes that are
fighting and dying so that you can have your spoiled brat “Tinseltown.”
--Thomas Newton, The Conservative Rebellion

This is Bush Country. Bethany is walking
On Prairie Chapel Road toward her chair
In Camp Reality. The kooks are talking
And yelling with a condescending air.
She is an army chaplain’s daughter. She
Supports the troops and President. They point
At Al Sharpton, Joan Baez, Martin Sheen
And Cindy Sheehan, (longing for a joint).
Come to the Real world, the real President,
The real true heroes fighting, dying for
The country that the Founding Fathers meant
To bless the people with for evermore.
And Casey Sheehan drops the truthful bomb,
“I am a hero not a victim, Mom.”


Turdstock

Someone said before I came back down here that we should
go down in a pasture near Bush’s ranch and thousands of people
would come and you ought to call it Turdstock, so let’s call it Turdstock.
--Cindy Sheehan, Camp Casey II

They’re singing, dancing, crying and parading
Their strong emotions--being so seductive
With loving photo ops, but they’re evading
Reality and being non-productive.
Make love not war. A white amorphous dove
Of peace pervades the lovely afternoon…
We’ll never, ever see the picture of
Another human walking on the Moon.
The wheel of civilization is slowing.
There are more people taking out than giving.
They built a giant welfare state that’s growing.
Too few of them are working for a living.
The leaches are all sucking down the Nation’s
Momentum from The Greatest Generation.

Dedicated to Bethany Berry, Crawford, Texas resident