The Revolution Does Not Sleep/Mark Lipman

The Revolution Does Not Sleep

It’s 3 o’clock in the morning
and there’s a restlessness everywhere,
contagious like an itch
that won’t go away.

They’re sleeping on the sidewalks
in New York and L.A.
Things are so much different
than they were just yesterday.

A guitar plays in the distance
to the shuffling of feet.
The conversation is ongoing.
The revolution does not sleep.

It echoes and reverberates
around the world today.
It occupies its neighborhoods.
It’s here and it’s here to stay.

It’s a very good day
the one we’ve waited for.
No one knows what tomorrow brings,
only that it brings some more.

No one knows what we’re asking,
yet we all know why we’re here.
Looking up at the banker’s towers,
the answer is very clear.

We’re tired of being treated
as if our worth was less,
as if our lives had no meaning
and our futures up for grabs,
sold to the highest bidder,
while we beg for table scraps.

We pay and work and pay and work
and are only left with debt.

“No more,” we say. “No more.”
We want our equal share.
No we will not go away,
we’re pounding at the door.

Capitalism, we’re sending
to its grave
and not a day too soon.

Stand aside, out of our way,
if you cannot lend a hand.
We’re taking back what Wall Street stole
and that is our demand.

Mark