Poem: Let's Keep the Kids in the Dark

Let’s Keep the Kids in the Dark

written by Greg Swimelar

We’ve kept the kids in the dark
For so long now
A little longer won’t hurt.
Let’s not tell them
That patriotism is often promotion
For war-making.
Let’s not tell them
How our meat gets to the table.
Let’s not tell them
That the coral reefs
Are dying and
That islands may disappear.
Let’s keep those textbooks coming
That are screened and filtered
By right wing,
Nationalistic, ethnocentric xenophobes,
And written and published
By the Grand Corps.
The textbooks that water things down;
That simplify, touch on
And explain away.
The textbooks that protect
The myths of the status quo,
Well supervised by those
Who are paranoid
About losing their life style.
Yeah, we can sacrifice the kids
For a few more years
Of the good life.
And if we need to fight a war
To increase or protect
What we think should be ours,
Let’s let our kids do it.
Not all of them, don’t you know --
Just the ones
We keep in the dark.