Happy Birthday, Mr. Clemens

Dear Mr. Clemens,
Since you were one of the writers who influenced my decision to write,
I thought that you should know that:
In the 21st century,
What is right is wrong.
What is wrong, yes, you guessed it, is right.
The poor, like Huck are pawns.
They give the elite their might.
Predators can be senators.
Oppressors can get pardons.
Corporate royalty take leisurely walks
within executive branch gardens.
Religion and politics
Are joined, no longer strange in bed.
Deniability is the norm,
No matter what has been done or said.
Victims are evil.
Workers are a lazy lot.
The best of history, yes, you know,
Is the history that is “forgot”.
But, as I ponder deeper thoughts
Your writings I recall.
Though it is the 21st century,
Things have not changed at all.

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