[Newspoetry] october 11: make the children pay

[John]

october 11: make the children pay

i know in times of crisis
it can sometimes be hard
to find the money to fund
important government programs

and i don't think the american people
would have a problem
if the government told them

"we're really sorry, we know
we just gave you a tax refund
but we now need to raise your taxes -
don't worry - by just $1 apiece"

perhaps i'm over-reacting
and tomorrow morning i will  find
that all my co-workers who have children
have already gotten their children
to mail in the envelopes

perhaps as a liberal
it is encoded in my genes
to react negatively
to every word from a republican president

and i'm not saying it's a bad thing
to encourage our kids to help others
perhaps by setting an example

but somehow this brings to mind
the age-old urban legend
of the radio announcer
(was it soupy sales? groucho marx?
it varies in each retelling)
who told all the children listening
"go to your parent's dressers
and send me all the pictures
of dead presidents"
 
funding a governement program
through money raised by children
by babysitting and picking up leaves
just doesn't sit right

and i know i'm a liberal
and will probably be attacked
for my insensitivity
lack of bipartisanship
and unamerican attitude

but i know if i had a kid
we'd have been raising money together
over the entire past month
and we'd have already sent it

to the red cross, and salvation army,
to the new york firefighters and policemen
and would be more than willing
to add save the children
or another organization
that feeds the hungry

but none of the money
would be going
to sixteen hundred
pennsylvania avenue
or capitol hill

they have other means
of raising money
and should use them.