A Visitor from the Past

[Chui]

A VISITOR FROM THE PAST
by Thelen Paulk

I had a dream the other night, I didn't understand.
A figure walking through the mist, with flintlock in his hand.
His clothes were torn and dirty, as he stood there by the bed,
He took off his three-cornered hat, and speaking low, he said:

"We fought a revolution, to secure our liberty.
We wrote the Constitution, as a shield from tyranny,
For future generations, this legacy we gave,
In this, the land of the free and the home of the brave."

"The freedom we secured for you, we hoped you'd always keep.
But tyrants labored endlessly, while your parents were asleep.
Your freedom gone, your courage lost, you're no more
than a slave,
In this, the land of the free and the home of the brave."

"You buy permits to travel, and permits to own a gun,
Permits to start a business, or to build a place for one.
On land that you believe you own, you pay a yearly rent,
Although you have no voice in choosing how the money's spent."

"Your children must attend a school that doesn't educate.
Your Christian values can't be taught, according to the state.
You read about the current news, in a regulated press.
You pay a tax you do not owe, to please the I.R.S."

"Your money is no longer made of silver or of gold.
You trade your wealth for paper, so your life can be controlled.
You pay for crimes that make our nation turn from God in shame,
You've taken Satan's number, as you've traded in your name."

"You've given government control to those who do you harm,
So they can padlock churches, and steal the family farm,
And keep the country deep in debt, put men of God in jail,
Harass your fellow countrymen, while corrupted courts prevail."

"Your public servants don't uphold the solemn oath they've sworn.
Your daughters visit doctors so their children won't be born.
Your leaders ship artillery and guns to foreign shores,
And send your sons to slaughter, fighting other people's wars."

"Can you regain freedom for which we fought and died?
Or don't you have the courage or the faith to stand with pride?
Are there no more values for which you'll fight to save?
Or do you wish your children to live in fear and be a slave?"

"Sons of the Republic, arise and take a stand!
Defend the Constitution, the Supreme Law of the Land!
Preserve our great republic and each God-given right,
And pray to God to keep the torch of freedom burning bright!"

As I awoke he vanished, in the mist from which he came.
His words were true, we are not free. We have ourselves to blame.
For even now as tyrants trample each God-given right,
We only watch and tremble, too afraid to stand and fight.

If he stood by your bedside, in a dream while you're asleep,
And wondered what remains of our rights he fought to keep,
What would be your answer, if he called out from the grave?
Is this still the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?

 

[rkh]

Darn...

For a moment there, I thought gunkid had come back.

 

[Boats]

Someone told me their dream of the other night, he didn't understand.
A figure walking through the mist, with his empty purse in his hand.
His clothes were prim and proper, as he stood there by the bed,
He took picked at his powdered wig, and speaking low, he said:

"Your ancestors fought a revolution, to secure liberty.
We wrote the Constitution, as a shield from tyranny,
For future generations, this legacy we gave,
In this, the land of the free and the home of the brave."

"The freedom we secured for you, we hoped you'd always keep.
But everyone nibbled at it and some bit into it deep.
Your freedom gone, your courage lost, you're no more
than a slave,
And you did it to yourselves, in a land full of knaves."

"You’d cheat your neighbor, and pollute the common stream,
Adulterate food, and then you’d scream--.
Someone ought to do something! There ought to be a law!
Through lack of self restraint you fed the government’s maw."

"T'is hard to believe the law had to tell someone 'No sawdust in the bread.'
Those vaunted Christian values something less observed than read.
You created the regulators you so love to hate.
But to mention that you made them necessary makes you quite irate."

"Your money is no longer made of silver or of gold.
Because you didn’t want an economy that smelled of mold.
It wouldn’t be a problem except for that debt that is your shame,
Who is really to blame when you have no assets to your name?"

'Who’s done all of this? Who’s brought on all of the harm?'
"You. And your neighbors, from whom every crisis is an alarm.
Somebody ought to do something, there ought to be a law!
So you shredded your Constitution like so much cole slaw."

"The other guy is always the problem, and never your own business or fun.
And now you hate the IRS, but use your refund to buy a gun.
Yep, those taxes were expensive, but got you that fancy new rifle.
If only most had the discipline to save up for their next trifle."

"Then you’d have more control of your own destiny and not be so blue.
Posturing about freedom, MOLON LABE, 'Whoops, the car payment is due.'
'Can the revolution wait, at least until payday?
My check for the mortgage will bounce, it’s on its way.'

"Sons of the Republic, what an apathetic band!
Mired in debt to your eyeballs, it’s too hard to make a stand!
So blather on about this and that and “the loss of your birthright,”
'Wait! Isn’t “24" on every Monday night?'

Then the dreamer related that his ghost had vanished.
It’s true, we are not free. Then he said, “But what the hey, I’m famished.”
For even now we trample each others’ God-given right
And then blame everything and everyone else in sight.

If the ghost stood by your bedside, in a dream while you're asleep,
And wondered why you called all of the other people, sheep,
What would be your answer, if he called out from the grave?
Just what is it exactly to which you are the slave?