The Communist Manifesto

If you asked me to define my political orientation
I would tell you that I am a democratic-socialist.
What I wouldn't add is that I used to be an anarchist,
Before I lost faith in humanity's ability to govern
Itself.

I have been called many things before:
An idealist, a dreamer, a fag and a dyke and a queer and a cunt and a girl and a tomboy and an It and a nerd and so geeky and I suppose that soon I'll be called a Pinko too and no one has ever called me a human is it because they can see that I'm something else in disguise I never meant to be so easy to read.

I'm communist trash.
I'll take your money for now
Like the Loonie I am,
But only because I need to eat and read comic books that are never in the library.

If I could, I would throw my pennies in a fountain of acid,
So that the maple leaves and ships and beavers and aging, ailing queen would all wash away.
And I would give my twenty dollar bill away to the wind for the simple delight of watching it fly.
It would be my personal kite,
Except I would attach
No
Strings.

God, if Mr. Ginsberg could see us now,
He'd laugh at how pathetic we are for never learning better.
Why is it that they tell you to share everything in Kindergarten
And then make you take it all to bed with you like a cold and unresponsive prostitute
When your heart and metabolism have both slowed
And your breath gasps through a filter of cholesterol and accumulated filth?

I can't tell people that I'm Canadian anymore it's embarrassing.
People ask me why I'm blue
And I say that I was painted that way by some replica of Picasso.
I can never tell them that my heart is a sickle and red and that it wants to fall out of my chest it's just so full of innocence and ideology that would frighten my customers away I can't wear what I want I'd be accused of perversion.


I know a boy
Who gave a hundred dollars and his birthday to Japan.
And I know 300 girls and boys and crypt-heavy teachers
Who could barely create 300 dollars between themselves
Despite being rich.
And I know 1700 nameless individuals
Who were well versed in the ways of capitalism
And told me that the world's third largest economy didn't need help.


Don't tell me I'm idealistic and naïve for believing that generosity can be the governing force in Canada.
I bought my only suit for fifteen dollars in a used clothing store
And I got my only dress for free.
I may be young, but I know a good deal when I see one.



Don't call me a hypocrite for accepting twenty dollars a week for my services.
I'm only trying to have enough
To have something
To give.