POLITICAL Poem: Bread and Circuses, by Hailey Baker

Bread and circuses—
the stage they’ve set for us,
where the crowds are fed,
and the spectacle blinds our trust.

We’re all victims of random circumstance,
born into battles we never chose.
But when we rise to fight for change,
they rewrite our story,
ruin our names,
turning our heroes into foes.

Bread and circuses,
a feast for the eyes,
while the hands that feed us
dangle our lives like lies.

Like clowns on a stage,
we throw pies at each other—
faces full of filling,
blinding you and me.
The ringmaster made them all with deception—
delicious, but sugar-free.

Distractions sweet,
so we never see—
the chains that bind us,
the price of being free.

They’ll make us dance,
they’ll make us cheer,
while they steal what we hold dear.
And in the silence of our screams,
they offer bread,
and sell us dreams.