When they rebuilt the Tower of Babel
after Jehovah the terrorist knocked it down
they stood it upon four cornerstones:
Diebold, Sequoia, ESS, and SAI.

Four branches connected at the root
to defense contractors like the Carlyle Group
and to President Bush of the Help America Vote Act
and Dick Cheney as Dr. Strangelove.

Think about it for a moment:
the four companies that tell us how we voted
are all owned by powerful Republicans whom
Bush made even wealthier by rushing out their machines.

On the first cornerstone sat a Dynacorp employee holding a videotape
of his rape of the twelve year old sex slave he bought
for six hundred dollars from the Bosnian mafia.

On the second sat a Haliburton executive, in one hand
he held explosives and in the other the keys to a bulldozer
and at his feet in the rubble of cities lay half the wealth of the world.

On the third sat a soldier with his prisoner on a leash
amid the remains of families. He never thought he'd go to war.
He doesn't know how much longer his service will be extended for.

On the fourth cornerstone sat a preacher who seemed to read
from a Bible but his eyes were blindfolded
and silently a mass of the sighted closed their eyes.

Retreating inward into screens and fleeing outward into space
feeling safe from the threat of gay marriage
the New Babylonians and their New Centurions toil
while the world trembles toward the last drop of oil.

Now is the time for whistle blowers, reporters, and lawyers.
Now is the time for truth telling, art making, and protestors.
Now is the time for communication and comprehension.
Now is the time for faith in prevention and invention.