Bright Future, Hard Road… a poem at STRANGE TIMES

Bright Future, Hard Road… a poem

Published

on July 25, 2009

. 4 Comments Tags: Marxism, poetry, revolution, social change, wage slavery.

Here’s a poem called ‘The future is bright… the road is hard’. I’ve performed it at a ‘poetry slam’ but, no, I won’t be giving up my day job!

4 Responses to “Bright Future, Hard Road… a poem”

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1 Arthur
July 26, 2009 at 7:12 pm

text please
2 Barry
July 26, 2009 at 9:15 pm

Well, if you want my love today,
If you want my sorrow,
Clouds may come,
and clouds may stay,
but we still live on
tomorrow.

Now, long ago when slaves obeyed
their masters,
it is true, yeah,
They couldn’t see
it didn’t have to be,
but their masters taught them well,
you see.

But when the slaves rose up
then they could see,
that they could control
their own destiny.
No God or gods,
just you and me,
the people won their sovereignty.

And now today
we may think we’re free
but we live and we work
in wage slavery.
Everybody tells me
it just has to be,
our masters still teach us well,
you see.

So, if you want my love today,
if you want my sorrow.
The future’s bright
but the road is hard,
but the future’s ours,
together,
Say the future’s ours,
together, yeah.
3 tom
July 26, 2009 at 11:30 pm

Have just listened to your poem and watched the accompanying collage which I enjoyed immensely. Seeing these numerous faces looking at me as I was listening immediately got me connecting them with your words – good trick. All have stood up against reactionary orthodoxies often at great personal risk; some have accepted others without any apparent discomfort (Lincon and Hirst Ali spring to mind); I really like the existence of these differences or contradictions and how the collage and your words bounce off each other
But more significantly, your post raises for me the question of what makes a good political or progressive or revolutionary or rebellious or whatever poem. While the first port of departure here is poetry that deals with social issues I certainly don’t intend to confine it to this – Dylan Thomas’ famous poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” written about his father when Thomas was anticipating his father’s death is a case in point. I like poetry and read quite a bit of it and am especially drawn to poetry that either has the intention or the effect of somehow exposing contradictions and suggesting (or maybe just hinting) at how these may be resolved. I’m sure Brecht wrote a poem that actually dealt with this but I can’t put my finger on it at the moment.
Interestingly Kasama has had a recent (and furiously responded to) thread on revolutionary (or progressive etc) films. What we are talking about here – be it poetry or film – is art and what makes some art progressive etc and other art reactionary, conservative etc. I think this is more than just what we like and has alot to do with why we like it, where it takes us, what buttons it pushes, the questions or issues we are left with…
Some conversations about this might be worthwhile.
4 tomb
July 27, 2009 at 3:29 pm

This has renewed my interest in revolutionary poetry, particularly like ‘schools imprison your brain’! Have really lost touch with contemporary rebellious/revolutionary songs and poetry but assumed they were being written and sung. Tell me it is so!