Clap hands, or ??

  I

School days returning soon, time to get the kids attention, clap hands

A school chore once upon a time was to clean chalk erasers, clap hands

Masked agents stop vehicles, and pedestrians, on our city streets, 

a question or two can lead to bound wrists, and they are unable to clap hands

When the music performance was astounding, it moved you so,

You stood to join the rest of the gathered audience to clap hands

Congress is supposed to play a role in the balance of governmental power

Yet they aren't taking action against mostly illegal executive orders, clap hands

Task to make a fruit bowl, combining cans of pears and peaches, with fresh 

blueberries, kiwi, strawberries, & mango. Kitchen dance ends with clap hands

Occasional protests against these changes, extreme challenges to the law 

of the land, don't seem to be enough, do we need to do more than clap hands

  II

Biennial local election draws neighbors to take out nomination papers

And gather signatures, a good civic action so we applaud with clap hands

Military are supposed to defend us from foreign enemies, local police meant to

Keep local law and order; with military deployed to cities, we need more than clap hands 

Administration attacks on funded programs and services, with staggered implementation 

Dates to avoid scrutiny around doublespeak, raises the need to respond with more than clap hands

What is fair and equitable is being distorted by the almighty dollar, absolute power

Corrupts absolutely, so we need to respond with more than clap hands

Those few with billions are buying their way around, gaining access previously 

Inconceivable, what does the future hold for those without money; only clap hands?

How do we avoid the pain of a thousand cuts, do we stop at 10, or 50, or 500?

Immunity and freedom can return with civic action by more than clap hands

So Sherlock, instead of pissing into the wind, what actions do we consider

We need to do more than stand on the sidelines and clap hands

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Thanks to the spark provided by Beck in his performance of "Clap Hands" on Saturday Night Live (SNL) once upon a time. The SNL video of the performance can be seen here ->   https://www.instagram.com/ryansbrown/reel/DNm6hP6OrXw/

Why would anyone

  I

It is pouring cats and dogs, why would anyone

The gutter is full of overflow, why would anyone

We voted it down last year, nothing has changed,

apartments are still being built, why would anyone 

Our Federal administration is ignoring the law, challenging 

Our rights, challenging our way of life, why would anyone

This room has an air filter cranking along, legacy from 

pandemic days, lessons learned likely forgotten, why would anyone

In the moves toward a perfect union, it used to be one man,

one vote, then it became pay to play, why would anyone

Citizens united, an oxymoron if there ever was one, created

a new personage which allowed dollars to flow, why would anyone

  II

“They're eating the cats and dogs” became a campaign meme

yes, the gullible voters lapped that up, why would anyone

Sitting, writing, in the quiet of the room reserved which

less took advantage of than could, so I did, why would anyone

Women were added to the one man one vote, other rights were established

along the way as “settled law”, now turned back, why would anyone

The sense of joint actions of the people, by the people, for the

people, created our commonwealth, why would anyone

The drive of social media to capture and maintain the eyeballs

attention a diversion from reality, is concerning, why would anyone

Even in a circle of friends, surprising how few knew of this or that,

or where to go, and get this, or that, why would anyone

So Sherlock, what are you going to do now? Strive for more attention 

to what matters, or call it a day? Why would anyone

Written while waiting for someone to participate in the Favorite Poem Reading at the Franklin Library. No one did, so this was successfully completed. Thank you!