ADVICE TO THE WRITERS ON STRIKE

1
I so support the striking writers.
But for my life can’t understand
Why all these militant "bull" fighters
Bow to producers, cap in hand?
Why not demand that your creations
Not dignify the degradations
Producers force on you and fight
To keep intact your copyright?
Why not proclaim yourselves the owners
Of what you write and make a deal
As equals, not a mere fifth wheel?
You needn’t stick to being loners;
But by incorporation lay
A ground producers can’t gainsay.
2
Imagine writers in collectives
Both dreaming up the scripts for shows
And spurning idiot directives
From suits who run the studios-
The men and women bottom feeders
Are growing into business leaders
But who can't tell a story from
A tale that's listless, limp, or dumb;
Who are not in the least creative
And yet they have the final say
Which may or not lose you your pay.
So why not strike for qualitative
Change- not pennies out of which you’re tipped;
But final say about your script?
3
Put writer’s names beneath the titles
As publishers do books and plays;
Not first of all the movie idols’
Or else directors.' Who'd win praise
Without the writers who’ve created
The chance for these to be inflated
From mortal to a movie star?
Don’t put these people on a par
With writers whose work made them famous
By writing them a depthless part
That turns their acting into art.
Who’s such an awful ignoramus
As not to know they all revere
The actor's writer, Will Shakespeare?
4
So why not try this business model
To organize your strike? You’ll find
You will not have to mollycoddle
What most producers call a mind.
And these will be the consequences:
When you’ve paid off all your expenses-
Your overhead, support, whatnot-
The rest is yours. Divide the pot
Collectively among the partners;
And while you take your leisure’s ease,
You’ll profit from your media fees.
I offer these as partial hearteners;
But keep in mind all these delights
Mean you must keep your copyrights.