dismantle the hero

these men & women with guns

these hired killers

these individuals who walk with a flag tattooed on their arm

these nationalists by default

these tools of the great military-industrial complex

these robots who get wd-40 squirted on their gears

ever so often,

ARE

NOT
HEROES.

 

s/he whose statue sits in every country’s capital

displaying for all of its citizens

a visual representation of just what it takes

to sacrifice yourself completely

because others have told you to do so---

in one way or another,

those with property

those who wield power &

those who point the finger at the poor

telling us that

if we worked harder that we could someday be like them,

it is THEY who have started the ball rolling in the mid east

it is THEY who sign the pointless papers which send off the sons & daughters of

the poor,

while never offering up themselves or their own kin for

target practice &

it is THEY who complain when others criticize

what the massive killing force known as the US military

does in the rest of the world

by beating others senseless or dead

in the name of THEIR democracy.

 

start with dismantling this idea that to do the bidding of the rich

by grabbing a gun & allowing yourself to be sent to the next “enemy” of

ours,

is not what it seems---

YOU ARE NOT A HERO

you are a target, a stopping point between those that the world policeman

has beat so hard that they finally want to retaliate, because they see no other

recourse.

 

a decent person would flip those tables that sit at the bottom of the subway steps

in poor neighborhoods in this country---

a decent person would flip the tables and run the recruiters off the premises

because they have no place in our communities

recruiting future cadavers.

 

if you want to be a hero

if you want to do your country good

then do not join the military

do not become a politician &

do not become a business man

for these intertwined dirty/bloody entities

function to rid us of our rights

rid us of our health &

rid us of any chance at survival

not to mention

any chance at happiness, if

there even exists such a thing.

 

the heroes are the public teachers

who are all getting laid off,

whose funding is constantly being cut &

who are being replace by private schools

the heroes are the firemen

who keep us from being burned alive

the heroes are the doctors & nurses

who keep us healthy

(and who could do so by a system of universal healthcare

like france, england, canada or austraila)

the heroes are the social workers

who help to get us off the streets & back on our feet again

the heroes are the job counselors

who understand how impossible it is & yet they still fight for us

the heroes do not look to be heroes

because someone else told them that they could be

in some 3 minute television ad.