Nineteen Seventies

They talk about how the country these days,
has fallen into such a Goddamn mess.
It’s worse than anyone has ever seen,
must have forgot the seventies, I guess.

They talk about how the ex-president,
did not do things the same way they use to.
But they must have forgotten all about,
Tricky Dicky back in seventy-two.

Congress showed us another bill they wrote,
said there’s no room here in the land we stole.
You won’t get no rights or have any hope
so just keep your ass down in Mexico.

Way down yonder where the tall cotton grows,
down south of that old Mason-Dixon line.
Daddy said son, best not be on the road.
after that setting sun no longer shines,

Late last night just outside of my front door, 
there was a young white woman raped and stabbed.
They looked at the people gathered around,
it was an innocent black man that they grabbed.

Said we don’t need no proof that you’re guilty,
if you are black then that’s enough for us.
Besides, it’s your word against all of ours,
so who you think the judge is gonna trust.
 
When the man threw his hands into the air,
the cop cried, “That boy’s got himself a gun.”
Shot him a total of thirty-nine times,
said it’s because he was trying to run.

I wonder when it was, we lost our minds,
the meanings of good and bad got hazy.
Did the cave men wake up on one morning,
thinking that this world is too damn crazy.

They are hopping mad so they burned the flag,
protesting against inequality.
The poor man’s sick of being kicked around,
while he’s dying of hunger in the street.

It’s Covid now instead of Russian Flu,
there is still no such thing as living free.
I just can’t tell if this is modern times,
or are we in the nineteen seventies.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2024



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Date: 2/21/2024 6:13:00 PM
How about the 1840's when we just annexed the northern half of Mexico? lol. What a country!
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Date: 2/21/2024 12:06:00 PM
People always complain, but forget that its never really been easy... always something going on.... your poem rhyme so well..
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Date: 2/20/2024 11:42:00 PM
There's always been evil in every decade. Chaos, drugs, crime, and hate have been here a long time. Injustice and greed instead of just enough is all we need has been growing my whole life. Thanks for bringing these things to our attention, Jerry, we still need to do some heart level changing as a world. Bill
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Date: 2/20/2024 10:41:00 PM
you close mouths my friend poet, inthe seventies there was vietnam, the watergate, and so much atrocities, and stories we never heard before, as you say, la liberté est essentielle, your poem is thought provoking ad precious these days, thanks a lot Jerry
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Date: 2/20/2024 6:44:00 PM
Dear Jerry, Through your words, you vividly captured the echoes of the past and the unsettling parallels with the present. The words you use of the societal injustices, the struggles for equality, and the relentless cycle of violence and discrimination touched me. The way you depicted the complexities of our collective consciousness, questioning when we lost our way and if the world has become too chaotic to comprehend, is both thought-provoking and hauntingly relevant. - Blessings, Daniel
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Date: 2/20/2024 6:10:00 PM
"And here's to you Jerry Brotherton, Jesus loves you more than you will know, whoa whoa whoa..." Gotta love them thar seventies.
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