"Democracy," Charles Bukowski

"Democracy"

(Charles Bukowski)

It's coming through a hole in the air,

from those nights in Tiananmen Square.

It's coming from the feel

that it ain't exactly real,

or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.

From the wars against disorder,

from the sirens night and day,

from the fires of the homeless,

from the ashes of the gay:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming through a crack in the wall,

on a visionary flood of alcohol;

from the staggering account

of the Sermon on the Mount

which I don't pretend to understand at all.

It's coming from the silence

on the dock of the bay,

from the brave, the bold, the battered

heart of Chevrolet:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow on the street

the holy places where the races meet;

from the homicidal bitchin'

that goes down in every kitchen

to determine who will serve and who will eat.

From the wells of disappointment

where the women kneel to pray

for the grace of G-d in the desert here

and the desert far away:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on

o mighty Ship of State!

To the Shores of Need

past the Reefs of Greed

through the Squalls of Hate

Sail on, sail on

It's coming to America first,

the cradle of the best and the worst.

It's here they got the range

and the machinery for change

and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.

It's here the family's broken

and it's here the lonely say

that the heart has got to open

in a fundamental way:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the women and the men.

O baby, we'll be making love again.

We'll be going down so deep

that the river's going to weep,

and the mountain's going to shout Amen!

It's coming to the tidal flood

beneath the lunar sway,

imperial, mysterious

in amorous array:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on

o mighty Ship of State!

To the Shores of Need

past the Reefs of Greed

through the Squalls of Hate

Sail on, sail on

I'm sentimental if you know what I mean:

I love the country but I can't stand the scene.

And I'm neither left or right

I'm just staying home tonight,

getting lost in that hopeless little screen.

But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags

that Time cannot decay,

I'm junk but I'm still holding up

this little wild bouquet:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.