The Revolution leaks all the time -

you can't call a plumber to fix it.


Poet, author, historian and revolutionary John Ross died recently. Ross played a critical role in the mid 90s by reporting on and publishing the writings of the Zapatista movement in Southern Mexico. This poem is presented to honor the contributions John Ross made to the movement for human liberation.


THE REVOLUTION IS NOT LIKE A FAUCET


The Revolution does not begin

over coffee at the Epicurean,

does not begin over gravy and grits,

in the first joint, the last hit,

the Morning Chron, your morning shit.

The Revolution does not begin

pulling greenchain on the graveyard shift,

or making the welfare line by nine.

The Revolution doesn't begin

in your mind, your heart, your liver,

your prick, doesn't begin

when you clench your fist,

The Revolution doesn't being in 1776,

1917, the depression, the dawn,

doesn't begin with gurus, Cinques,

the news from L.A. Havana, manana.

The Revolution doesn't begin

with both barrels, at the bottom of bottles,

on the pages of bibles, with the blues.

The Revolution does not begin,

The Revolution has no beginning.

The Revolution is unending.

The Revolution is not like a faucet -

you can't turn it on and off.

The Revolution leaks all the time -

you can't call a plumber to fix it.

- John Ross




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