Fuck you, Bob Dylan

Whenever I can muster up the courage to look outside my window, I don’t see the times a changin’

I see the nazis our grandparents defeated are back on the march

Throwing their hearts out to everyone who made the spray-tan phoenix flight a reality

Throwing up concentration camps (no I will not call them detention centers)

Throwing federal workers out on their asses

Throwing out the rights bought by the blood stains on the teeth of police dogs

Throwing out the tired; Throwing out the poor; Throwing out the american dream

Because the times, they aren’t a changin’

Whenever the hangover wears off just long enough for me to open my eyes to the daylight, I don’t see the times a changin’

I see women are still being treated like state-owned incubators

I see the fear of back-alley healthcare replaced by the fear of bleeding out in a parking lot just feet from an ER

I see the rights and protections earned by our grandmothers stripped away by the supreme incels

I see women walking into office buildings with one hand wrapped tight around the pepper spray in their purse

Because the monsters aren’t just prowling the streets; they’re wearing suits, and they’re winning court cases, and they’re winning elections

Because the times, they aren’t a changin’

If and when I can fight back the tears long enough to open my eyes, I don’t see the times a changin’

I see genocide once again reclaimed as a national past-time

As we are told that our imminent victory over the terrorists who hate freedom is just one more bombing run away

They swear, we just need to drop this slightly bigger bomb on to this hospital and it will spread so much freedom you won’t believe

So when the cops showed up on campuses to roust people who just want peace in Palestine

I was not at all surprised when the National Guard soon followed

Because the times, they aren’t a changin’

The only thing that’s changed is I’m too scared to look around because all I see are endless cycles of incremental progress and bloody backlash

Freedom fighters move the line ever so slightly but then we all suffer from the counter attack

I see many suffer worse than others, I see most suffer worse than me

I see every bit of hope and promise evaporate into despair

And I just don’t want to look at it anymore

I don’t even want to see a light at the end of the tunnel; I just want to see it end

Fuck that!

I will not bury my head; I will scream and I will act

I will not be passively moved forward; I will put skin in the game

Because the times, I will change them

You will take part

You will feel inspired and you will be inspiring

You will not record me on your goddamn phone because you will get up here and you will scream with me

Because the times, you will change them

We will not doom-scroll passed history as we ourselves are the ones who make it

We will need each other and we will be what each other needs

We will not turn on each other; we will not turn each other in

We will need each other and we will be what each other needs

We will not go through the same shit again

Because the times, we will change them