Democracy by Leonard Cohen

Democracy

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that it ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. 

Democracy by Leonard Cohen Analysis

In this poem Cohen cynically reminds us that America is not the democracy it claims to be, that racism and classes have not been abolished. Then he points out that while that time is not here yet, it is coming in its own time, and that America is paving its way without trying. It also makes me think that when democracy arrives, it will be those who speak of it most who will reject it without recognizing it for what it is.