Never minding
that the Founders didn't want
an establishment of religion
in these United States
there's no reason America
shouldn't hand the mic
to Ted Cruz's
conservative Christian rapper groupies
We Are Watchmen
so they can
set ablaze "the voice of the Founding
speaking in the contemporary tongue"
in "Set It On Fire"
which starts off decently with
"It’s like we’re back
in the late ’70s
Labor force is dead
emboldened enemies"
and one can almost hear Eminem
stressing out before going on stage
in the lines
"When power is concentrated
centrally and federally
it creates dependency
that’s mentally like leprosy"
and sounding a little
like a recent grad
with an English degree
who is just so happy
to have found paying work
but okay
not bad.
And presumably
a shout-out to God's
intelligent design in
"We are the greatest nation
that’s ever been implanted on the planet"
and of course
"we never panic
when things get rough"
but rather perform
some seductive new dance move
in the name of free trade
and right-to-work laws when
"we put our hands up on the granite
and grind for righteousness."
Then finally revealing
the buried lede
we're asked to "imagine the Reagan revolution
part two
on our fingertips."
Luckily while we're doing that
the poor intern
re-checks the assignment
realizes he's short of the word count
and pens another verse
"We the people
are the future of our nation
we’ll never relinquish it
Let the American dream die?
Nah we’d never
even think of it
We’re at the brink of it
but we’ll survive.
We’re Washington and Lincoln’s kids."
It's a somewhat tortured rhyme
but it gets the point across
has some history
and is the best we can do
in Obama's America.
Then a call-and-response
for "courageous conservatives"
to "rise up and roll out."
Finally the last verse ends
"It only takes one spark to light the fire
We’re rising
reigniting the embers
that have been burning inside."
Writing is hard
and it's mean to mock
any sincere effort
but sadly
even the greatest MC
at the Grand Old Party
probably won't get the Millennial vote
as it's not the Cruz
but the destination.
This poem © 2015 Emily Cooper.
