The Price Poem by Raymond Chilensky

The Price

Brave men under white crosses in Europe, and on Pacific Islands.
Survivors with stumps where limbs used to be.
Children remembering fathers only from photographs.
The future had a price.

The survivors and their children fought in Korea and Vietnam.
A system was the enemy then, not a country or a man.
Two wars that decided nothing.
The future had a price.

Students fought against policemen, both of them were victims.
Assassins took three great men, but their ideas endured.
Trust ended at Watergate, and for a while we paid attention.
The future had a price.

The Gulf saw another war.
Kuwait was freed, and the oil flowed.
The Highway of Death was the smoldering climax.
The future had a price.

The towers fell, and the law was shouted into silence.
As a people, we went mad.
Fear rules us now.
The future has its price.

Now our soldiers are too few to win, and too many to sacrifice.
Corporations go to war with our taxes in their hands.
Our eyes were shut, and we have opened them too late.
The future has its price.

Patriots may not ask questions.
Washington will know what you read and say.
Over your shoulder or across the street is an enemy.
The future has its price.

Money knows no boarders now.
The bankers claim no countries.
Executives in boardrooms make politicians kneel, and generals go to war.
The future will have its price.

Learn from history, dare to read.
Know what is being done in your name.
Remember, the most powerful word is not love, it is NO
You will pay the price.