Look at you, Liberal

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Look at you, Liberal
in your made-up face,
smiling at a camera,
hoping you win the decent photo race
long before selfies and smartphones
before filtering and contouring 'whores'
you and yours
were not immune to insecurity's call
you didn't think of where clothing came from
who served for a slave wage
a childhood lost for cotton stitches paid
or how many factories poisoned rivers
seas
how much of your consumption killed the bees
the same bees that you need for food
for flowers, fruits,
a green world you can't afford to lose
but you gotta look cool
right?
that's how this works
no one gets a job
a boyfriend
stamp of approval
if they are not out trending for love
Look at you, Liberal
you say you care
you're sad when watching documentaries
wish some-one did something out there
this vague idea of goodness
while you focus on self
my education
my material gain
my fucking life, pain, no one else
what did you actually do
gave out soup at a kitchen
on a Sunday prime
sang at a retirement home
so white elders smile before they die
come the next day
they're back to hunger
loneliness or neglect
performance well-intentioned
is still earning us the same high rent
but lets focus on hope, laughter
positive thoughts
a rainbow that never existed
Tutu's peace prize that meant fucking nought
Peace?
Look around
Liberal, get your head out of the ground
the continent is burning
the world too
you didn't know?
So what!
Now you do
Liberal, you stood in a lecture room
looked in the eyes of 'lazy' GenZs
no greater shame washed over you
knowing you forced the young to pay the fees
for your complicity
your self-absorption
your bullshit, can't change the world left and right
the lie that once, everything was fine
fine for you kak privileged Millennial
the kids are not alright
nothing about rainbow land
white gods' world
was good, just or fair
nothing about this world
respected ecology
the balance indigenous knew how to care
now the earth burns
and we are supposed to pretend
doing little to nothing is not a sin
you were always the black lives matter friend
you're lying
Liberal, stop lying to them
stop lying to yourself
and expecting a gold star for good intentions
and nothing much else
on a sinking ship that needs more than itty bitty help
Do something that goes beyond press releases
and speeches for free
stop quoting dead leaders
or trickle-down wine drinkers who sealed their deals
you're no hero, Liberal
you're an obstacle
because your philosophy has no new ideas
the same shit
on a different day
bootstrap, corporate renewables
why not switch off the war machine's reign
switch off the engine from hell
stand up and say, we messed up good and well
but we have global power
we are the dominant race
human lives
can prioritise the earth over space
Come on, Liberal
you're not a total douche
you have a heart
underneath all those layered fears
of losing privileges and new shiny shoes
You didn't know or if you did
you didn't care
but now you do
good, use that
it's all connected
you, me, them, the forest fires too
Look at you, Liberal
so young and care free
you never thought you'd worry
about the world your son would inherit, see
you went about your life
told yourself it's fine
to be apolitical
staying ignorant
just watch and read about fictional lives
your little corner can be kept out of the muck
maybe you'll be a mommy blogger
a well-fed corner office gal with luck
single lane
never worry about a world shattering thing
agh, politicians suck
but now what?
who are you going to call?
Do you really want to be a doomsday prepper
in a fiery blizzard or abandoned mall
Liberal, your attachment to outdated times
living in an echo chamber
where you happily snort more crimes
extraction at any cost
inequitable living
more lives brutally lost
so long as you keep your house near the bay
your 4x4 and diamond ring
who cares if the birds stop singing
who cares if it snows when it should rain
or gets so hot
we shower fully clothed, wet stained
the penthouse class got it in their head
their daddy, mummy issues can be fixed
if we all listen to them instead
they are mad
like Martin's Mad King
the crazies wear their crowns
and we need to stop listen-ning
Look at you, Liberal
this is it
this is the fight
if you didn't know why
you struggle to sleep sound at night
this is why
you know you did wrong
you are angry more at yourself
than the cold dead racists back home
the ones you thought you'd escape from
so your corner could be made great
then you realised no human lives
working class will be saved
black, brown or white
the angry supremacists don't get the fight
they may never,
too desperate to not be together
when roundabout war and weather
changes the course of our forever
Look at you, Liberal
good ol' liberalism is dead
except in your head
stay quiet in bed
it's your choice
but don't say we didn't tell you, my friend