PROUD BOY

no wind, yet the windbells
keep on ringing…
Kokan Shiren. 

Living in Australia 
During the 70’s
I decompressed
From growing up in England
In the 50’s and 60’s.

That Antipodean experience 
Provided the hinge point
Of my Life. 
In 1980 I came 
To America. 

This year is my
Twelfth U.S. Presidential Election.
So I can write about them
Like the middle-aged man
I no longer am. 

From an early time
I had a social conscience.
We lived on a Housing Estate
In the time of Polio, so I was
Aware of both Sickness and Poverty.

Every four years
(Now that they let me vote)
The opportunity exists to throw
It away on some
Long shot pinko.

Like Ralph Nader
Cynthia McKinney
Or Jill Stein (twice)
I stand Proud having never voted
For the winning candidate.

Living in California
One has the Freedom
To vote your Conscience;
For Someone who reflects
Your values. 

I don’t care about Much:
But I do know I care about
Palestine
The death penalty
And the End of Empire

And a few other things that
The Legacy candidates
Like
Kamala and Trump
Don’t talk about.