Revolutioning by Proxy

Revolutioning by Proxy
by Erik Tate

For those of us who aren’t quite ready to
pitch our tents in the park,

those of us who want to know more about what’s
going on out there before we commit,

for those of us with soft skulls,
     those of us who are partial to our spleens,

or
for those of us who want to step in gradually,
get our feet wet first,

we can safely watch events unfold from
in front of our computer screens.

The danger in this is
          after a time

we’ve convinced ourselves that we can see more by
staying home,
watching up close,

letting the revolution come to us.

Tuning in to live feeds of key encampments 24/7
we can chat with protesters on the front lines,

watch as cops pull the tarps from over
sleeping protesters in the rain —

seeing it all without leaving our living rooms!

We watch as protesters retake a park they were
driven from days earlier.

Such a feeling of pride,

like
when our team wins, we say

we won

even though we

had nothing to do with it.

Revolutioning by Proxy — Erik Tate

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