November 4, 2011

Wall St. Occupiers Erect 'Statue of Misery'

New York, NY -- The "Occupy Wall Street" activists erected a statue this past week, inspired by the US Statue of Liberty, created so "the dozens of new arrivals to this strange new land will have something to inspire them." The group is calling it the "Statue of Misery" and expressed hope that the monument would last "as long as the 'Occupy' movement itself."

One of the creators of the statue, former art student Stan Andeliver, stressed that the statue was built from recycled material. "99% of it is organic trash from around the park. This stuff has just been lying around here doing nothing for weeks, and we picked it up and used it. Let it serve now as a beacon for others."

The brief dedication ceremony consisted of an original reading by self-described 'street poet' John Languid, called "The New and Improved Colossus."

Not like that big ol' lady shivering in the sea
Welcoming legal immigrants to this unfair land,
Unfathomably thinking it better than where they left.
We have here this totally awesome new place
And this pile of stuff - vaguely human-like - but made from trash
To welcome fellow travelers to our make-believe world
Where we don't have to work
To prove our worth, or fill our stomachs.
Bring me your lazy, your selfish, your ignorant youth,
Nurtured and programmed by cynical fools.
Bring them here to live on someone else's land -
Noisy and noisome - and play pretend.
That we are grownups now and know better than those
Who came before and built this place.

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