9 Thermidor

9 Thermidor When we come. When we stagger, dripping blood And grasp the hinges, pulling up to see There is no Tartar of terrible aspect Preventing our timorous entry.

When we stare into the leader's eyes And see the hideous face, corrupted by A hoard of borrowing parasites and watch The idiotic toy, strutting by his table, Then we shall be ashamed at how we cowered At his stare and we shall laugh At how his overweening greed Just makes no sense in human governance.

And when our gaze grows clear, despite TV, Despite the rapid cutting of the news, Which tries to keep us from our goal, And view that mouth we long to shoot, The constant misdirection of his purposes, The lips that always lie ­ There shall be a revelation Across the paths and highways of this nation And deep disgust flash out upon his regulations.

We'll flay his flesh and rope the gallows tree ­ Then and only the shall we be free.

Carl Estrin