and then Tyke the elephant broke free
crushing her trainer to death
and mauling her groomer
as she made her great escape.
She never forgot
all those years of abuse
being paraded around
thousands of miles
away from her friends and family.
But while she was running
through the streets of Honolulu
the police riddled her body
with nearly 100 bullets
and she lay,
hunched over in the street bleeding,
until she finally died from her wounds
and her days of pain and suffering
were finally over.
The circus she escaped from
has been forgotten
but new circuses
have taken its place,
where new elephants
are put on parade
thousands of miles from home
for the enjoyment of the whole family
with food and beverages available for purchase
for a nominal fee.
The End.
And remember kids,
“There will be no safe haven
For those that kill Americans”
says the president,
And he means it,
If it plays into Uncle Sam’s bloody hands,
That is.
But if you’re a black kid
With your hands up
Uncle Sam don’t give a damn
He won’t cross
The thin blue line,
And if you’re a journalist
He won’t let your family pay ransom
Because Uncle Sam
Needs your beheading,
Needs your death to become
‘A new Pearl Harbor’
Needs to go against
Everything you stood for in life
Though you knew
That violence begets violence
And killing more Muslims
Won’t lead to peace
In the Middle East,
Your death will let Uncle Sam
Keep on playing World Police
And so it is written
And so it goes
And just so all the world knows,
We have better things to do
Than give a fuck about you
Whether you were born in Iraq,
Or born in the states
And happen to be black…
We can’t care…
Because the ballgame is on
And we love watching human beings
Juiced up beyond belief
Get brain injuries
And destroy their knees,
We like our bread and circus
With a side of scandal,
We’re all trapped in Oz
And can’t find the handle…
We’re force-fed GMO corn
We’re hooked on violent porn
We dedicate our lives to corporations
And argue with our partners
Our whole two week vacation
We work and pay taxes and neglect our kids
And curse out the folks living off the grid
‘It’s just plain stupid
And irresponsible.
They think they’re
Better than us with their solar power
and that hippie ass organic food’
we pray to Jesus
but cast stone after stone
and when we’re old,
our kids will remember the neglect
and leave us all alone
in nursing homes
to cry about our wasted lives
and to hang our heads
as the American government
starts another war
with money stolen
from our grandchildren
and they will be
too busy to care
just like we were
because the beer is ice cold.
and the circus is back in town.
*Tyke (1974 – August 20, 1994) was an African elephant who performed with Circus International of Honolulu, Hawaii. On August 20, 1994, during a performance at the Neal Blaisdell Center she killed her trainer and mauled her groomer, causing severe injuries. After a half-hour of chasing down the animal, local law enforcement fired 86 shots at the 8,000 pound animal. Tyke finally collapsed from the wounds and died.
