Got Change? A Rhymed Exchange on Claims of Change

Got Change?
A Rhymed Exchange on Claims of Change

“I put a dollar in one of those change machines.
Nothing changed.”
George Carlin

From the outside, looking in,
I cannot tell where to begin.
My cup is empty; ain’t that strange?
Has anybody got some change?

Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle,
Watching issues rearrange.
Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle;
Anybody got some change?

I see a man with lovely phrase;
Perhaps it’s just a passing phase.
A woman points his failings out,
Increasing every voter’s doubt.

Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle,
Watching issues rearrange.
Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle;
Anybody got some change?

Debates bring conflict, fighting words,
As each one tries to swing the herds.
“Look at my resume,” they say.
“And send your voters all my way.”

Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle,
Watching issues rearrange.
Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle;
Anybody got some change?

They grab the mic and speak of change,
And legislations to arrange.
Does anybody think it weird
That things are worse than once we feared?

Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle,
Watching issues rearrange.
Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle;
Anybody got some change?

The war still rages, on both shores,
As candidates trade metaphors.
Without insurance, work or roofs,
We care so little for their proofs.

Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle,
Watching issues rearrange.
Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle;
Anybody got some change?

Although these folks pontificate,
I sit and wait to fill my plate.
My cup is empty; ain’t that strange?
Has anybody got some change?

Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle,
Watching issues rearrange.
Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle;
Anybody got some change?

What’s that you say? I’ve got a ride,
If I will vote just for your side?
You’ll take me to the polling place
And register me for the race?

Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle,
Watching issues rearrange.
Jingle and jangle!
Look at ‘em dangle;
Anybody got some change?

Author’s Note:

On both sides of the aisle, the candidates chatter and natter about change. From capital gains taxes to war strategies, and from foreign policy to nuclear weapons, each contender has a sound byte to share.

Without exception, as each Presidential candidate has tossed his or her hat into the proverbial ring, he or she has called for change, or reform. From health care reform to welfare reform, from biology to ecology, and from Afghanistan to war-torn Iraq and Iran, everyone calls for change.

These issues loom large. Still, one has to wonder . . . what happens to the folks who really need change? Even small change! What will become of those without a voice and without a choice?

Has anybody got some change?

“There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in traveling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position, and be bruised in a new place.”
Washington Irving
(1783 – 1859)