https://poeturja.wordpress.com/category/causes/

Phil ochs i aint marching anymore
Phil's voice echoing in my mind
As I learn to play
My new ukulele

Here are the chords
No riff, but couldn't do justice
To the memorable, musical phrase
That always gave me chills when a teen

Listening to him on late-night weekend FM
No commercials in the sixties
Bought the album
Saw him countless times at folk festivals
And Philly coffee houses
Spoke to him twice
Well, in my ultra-shy way
Went through a period of
Perverting his song
As I tired from marching
Although it was to prevent the type of marching
Phil Ochs meant

Anti-war but also voting rights, Women's Lib
War just kept coming
Voters got rights but stopped voting
Women didn't want equality if it meant
Sharing a bathroom with men

In frustration I invoked the words of
Phil Ochs
Silently shouting:
"I Ain't Marching Anymore"!
But got through that phase
An activist works for the common good
Not for the individuals who may pervert the act

So here I am
Almost a quarter of the way into
The twenty-first century
Voice scratchy
The pressing of frets slow
Giggling attitude toward my ineptitude
But playing and singing
Phil Ochs' call to war
Against war

So here I am
Daring to replicate the sacred chords
Of I Ain't Marching Anymore
What a high…

© Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)

Here's a Youtube link to the song: https://youtu.be/gv1KEF8Uw2k