Trapped in a coal mine, it\u2019s a living
And the stool pigeons back it
Because those bird brains there
Haven\u2019t figured out it\u2019s all a racket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/img_0528.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A song of the fascist insurgentsWho flow in like a streamThey ransacked the capitalLiving that wild dreamHappy they areHappy they beWhat\u2019s in the future?Who can foresee?In defense of lawn orderWith jockey statuary to matchThey got all tore upIn that dang briar patch! Just like that bluebird of happinessA purchase in the treeWho sings that catchy songCalled \u201cWoe is me! Woe is me!\u201c They sing like canariesTrapped in a coal mine, it\u2019s a livingAnd the stool pigeons back itBecause those bird brains thereHaven\u2019t figured out it\u2019s all a racket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[188,127,201,147,167,123,150,152,64],"class_list":["post-2353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing","tag-fable","tag-fantasy","tag-history","tag-humor","tag-humour","tag-poetry","tag-politics","tag-satire","tag-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3u13S-BX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":312,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/when-laughter-is-outlawed-only-outlaws-will-laugh\/","url_meta":{"origin":2353,"position":0},"title":"When laughter is outlawed only outlaws will laugh","author":"David Raffin","date":"August 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Did you know this fascinating tidbit about dental offices: the laughter of children is prohibited therein. They may have all the sugar they want. That's part and parcel for the business. But laughter is relegated to elsewhere. It's a serious business. Dentists number your teeth. That's so, later on, they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":726,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/the-arkansas-traveller\/","url_meta":{"origin":2353,"position":1},"title":"The Arkansas Traveller","author":"David Raffin","date":"June 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"They don't have a lot of religious relics in the United States but those they have they hold dear. In Arkansas they have the original pogo stick Jesus used to jump on. When a traveller challenged the authenticity of the relic he was murdered by true believers. This happened in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":366,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/this-post-totally-gay-zebedy-colts-1969-album\/","url_meta":{"origin":2353,"position":2},"title":"This Post? Totally Gay. Zebedy Colt’s 1969 album.","author":"David Raffin","date":"August 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Let me tell you a story about Zebedy Colt, a man who lived four lives. 1. A child actor in the 1930s who appeared in major Hollywood productions. 2. A stage actor in Broadway theater. 3. An innovator in gay music, releasing an album in 1969 where he sang gay\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Links"","block_context":{"text":"Links","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/info\/links\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/daily.squirt.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/zeb-ad.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":731,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/the-origin-of-pease-porridge-hot-and-cold-as-well-as-rather-old\/","url_meta":{"origin":2353,"position":3},"title":"The origin of Pease Porridge, hot and cold, as well as rather old","author":"David Raffin","date":"July 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Everytime I hear \"Pease Porridge Hot\" I think, \"What a terrible advertising jingle.\" But then I note that I become desirous for pease porridge of any sort, and I further marvel at the longevity of the ad jingle; as well as the porridge itself. Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Info"","block_context":{"text":"Info","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/info\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2890,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/screaming-for-a-love-bite\/","url_meta":{"origin":2353,"position":4},"title":"Screaming for a Love-Bite","author":"David Raffin","date":"May 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A waffle sat on the grill a long time. Couldn\u2019t decide which way to turn. So turned crispy. This isn\u2019t the end of a sad story. It was worked into the shape of a cone. Which was its burial preference. And ice cream was placed atop. Ceremonially.And we sing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4163,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/todays-standards-beget-practices\/","url_meta":{"origin":2353,"position":5},"title":"Today\u2019s Standards Beget Practices","author":"David Raffin","date":"October 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The club with no name met in the computer room which was filled with computers but empty of people. Technically, it had started as a computer club but if we are to be completely honest, looking back upon it, these were nothing but plastic machines which made beeping noises when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}