Taking The Rostrum (1975)

From the April 1975 issue of the Socialist Standard

These steps I’ve taken this afternoon
Like any other afternoon 

Are for SOCIALISM, nothing less
For no other cause will I digress 

My comrades and I will never falter
Though mocked and jeered we’ll never alter 

We know our case in and out
So take us to task, have a bout 

Prove us wrong and I’ll get down
Maybe join a circus, become a clown
If that is all you want to see 

Or do you possess the dignity
To stand up against inequality, 

Destruction, degradation, poverty, starvation even!
What do you do Mary, Bob, Alice, Stephen? 

You acquiesce to a system
Where profit be the only reason
To struggle, to suffer through every season 

Summer, Winter, Autumn, Spring
Don’t time fly by with a zing? 

You know! 

This madhouse does not have to be
A better system we can see 

So open your minds
Give SOCIALISM some thought
If you agree, throw in your support 

We’ll not have to look to optimism
When the world is rid of capitalism

David Wright