Poetry Sunday

The United States we're living in today is not the same one that I grew up in. Nor is it the same United States I served for more than two decades as an Air Force officer. Granted, some things have gotten better, although the benefits have hardly been distributed equally. I never thought I'd see a manifestly crazy, politically inept clown like Der Furor as our president, or that the Republican party to which I once belonged had gone Full Nazi ... and now I can't imagine that a significant number of people can believe that - gawd forbid - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr - would be an acceptable option to those dissatisfied with both President Biden and Der Furor. Or that wealth will trickle down from the top 1% to make life wonderful for the rest of us. Everybody knows ... but nobody really cares enough.

Everybody Knows

By Leonard Cohen

 

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded

Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed

Everybody knows that the war is over

Everybody knows the good guys lost

Everybody knows the fight was fixed

The poor stay poor, the rich get rich

That's how it goes

Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking

Everybody knows that the captain lied

Everybody got this broken feeling

Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets

Everybody wants a box of chocolates

And a long stem rose

Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby

Everybody knows that you really do

Everybody knows that you've been faithful

Give or take a night or two

Everybody knows you've been discreet

But there were so many people you just had to meet

Without your clothes

And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That's how it goes

Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That's how it goes

Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it's now or never

Everybody knows that it's me or you

And everybody knows that you live forever

When you've done a line or two

Everybody knows the deal is rotten

Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton

For your ribbons and your bows

And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming

Everybody knows that it's moving fast

Everybody knows that the naked man and woman

Are just a shining artifact of the past

Everybody knows the scene is dead

But there's gonna be a meter on your bed

That will disclose

What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you're in trouble

Everybody knows what you've been through

From the bloody cross on top of Calvary

To the beach of Malibu

Everybody knows it's coming apart

Take one last look at this Sacred Heart

Before it blows

And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That's how it goes

Everybody knows

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows

That's how it goes

Everybody knows

Everybody knows

In case you're interested, here's a great video of Leonard Cohen performing this song live in Dublin.

Have a good day, and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Think very carefully about how you vote in November ... everybody knows what could happen, but nobody wants to admit how far we've fallen as a nation.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo