Shuddup and Siddown
Siddown
Sit down
Sit-down

It's easy to forget there are different kinds of sitting
The thesaurus reminds us you can park, perch, plop down
slump, settle, slip
History reminds us that sometimes sitting is what you do
When you can't stand for it any longer

When you're ready to start giving the orders
For the soda, coffee, donuts
That's all you want: the right to make an order

You'll sit there unserved
But not unnerved
By the hatred, the hisses, the heckles
There are some things so simple they're scary
Your job is to simply to stay
To be a statue now
So that later they'll put up a statue
They'll say, "Look what happened here"
Because they refused to get up
to let up
to be kicked out
No, they sat in
Students dressed in their Sunday best
Unthreatening at first, one waitress thought they were just
"Somebody here from someplace else"
Who didn't know the local custom
Which Woolworth's had sworn it would follow
When it was deciding who would get to sit at its counters

Who would get to order coffee
All black
No sugar, no cream, no milk
Just a cup of coffee
Please