Vienna Teng Follow

am I
am I
am I the one to praise?

collide with faces veiled in paper
reading line by line the pain there
but for the grace of code and capital
we’d cry out side by side

so why
oh why
why am I the one to praise?

calculate the Ponzi pension to avoid
unintended consequences of a choice
now am I so confident I am the one
earning every pretty sum and deserving every toy
am I selling broken bonds or innovation
someone’s yelling get a job out of a Lincoln
but the human microphone will find a voice
and a change is gonna come, said the signal to the—

remind me in my western chamber
what this plan’s designed to save here
I haven’t come to say I’m sorry
but I swear I’m on your side

oh I
oh I
I am not the one who preys

betting on the best semesters you can buy
digging out of debt, sequestered, unemployed
underwater empty nesters in a slum
television for the bums, helicopter for the boys
marketplace of multi-culti competition
building out the fossil fracking operation
careful of a bird blacker than a swan
‘cause a change is gonna come, said the signal to the noise

were you never in the 99?
you are ever in the 99
we are ever in the 99
we are ever in the 99

am I
am I
am I the one to praise?

collide with faces veiled in paper
reading line by line the pain there
I haven’t come to say I’m sorry
but I swear I’m on your side

we are ever in the 99