Breaking loose (Sandburg)

The people so often sleepy, weary, enigmatic
is a vast huddle with many units saying:
   "I earn my living.
   I make enough to get by
   and it takes all my time.
   If I had more time
   I could do more for myself
   and maybe for others.
   I could read and study
   and talk things over
   and find out about things.
   It takes time.
   I wish I had the time."
   The people is a tragic and comic two-face:
   hero and hoodlum: phantom and gorilla twist-
   ing to moan with a gargoyle mouth: "They
   buy me and sell me...it's a game...
   sometime I'll break loose..."

Carl Sandburg, from "The People, Yes"