When Rhetoric Dies

we raise the flags and statues to our mission we've spoken out

in slogans and in campaigns

talked and talked on almost every issue

where oppression of the masses is the constant theme

but what does this mean to a little town in iowa

where the jobs have gone downstream down south and out

where their fingers used to work to the bone all day

profits rise and fall and starvation is a game

where is the food that used to cover their table

where is the sense of pride at the end of the day

to the face of a thriving corporation what could a dying family

possibly say

on the face of every american worker

is the constant fear that their job won't remain

as the c.e.o is planning his vacation

to kill or be killed is the nature of the beast

stand in line take a number you sell your soul

then watch it crumble

into a pile of rubble that used to be

your job

your life

your family's daily bread dry and stale malnourished kids

the house is sold for a degrading bid

do we continue to talk or do we take a hammer to their chains