Irrelevance

The liberals don’t want me.

They think I’m too conservative.

The conservatives don’t want me.

They think I’m too liberal.

My curse is irrelevance. 

I walk around. I’m just another familiar face.

The only people I know

are irrelevant too.

They sit alone, waiting for someone

to talk to, someone relevant,

but sure enough, it’s just me,

another irrelevant human being,

filled with old news and stubborn views.

We never laugh together.

That would be an obscene display

liable to get us in trouble.

The things that we say

have no relevance.

We are stuck in the past.

Everyone looks at us as if

we were passé, as if we were children

who were stuck in time-out.

And maybe that’s just what we are.

Nobody is interested in the old ways.

We stand our ground, though,

refusing to budge.

We’re tired of feeling dragged along

like old mules. On our backs we carry

all the thrown-out junk of a society eager

to build what’s new. They are leading us

to the dump, and by the time we arrive,

we, too, will be old junk to be disposed of.

In the meantime, I’ll sing these stubborn songs

just to let the people know

that the past is not completely gone.