I Have A Nightmare

"Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" – MLK, “I have a dream”, 8/28/63.

I saw the few of us still remaining struggle uselessly, yet in total savagery over spoiled foodstuffs

I realized they were free at last of oppressive government oversight - as well as any yoke of morality

Freed they were - from concerns over mass extinctions, global warming and their own toxic emissions

No longer did they need to ignore elevated blood pressure, weight, blood sugar and cholesterol

Not just all the free healthcare and abortion clinics, but ALL of the clinics and hospitals were closed

There was no more Monday Nite Football and nobody would ever commute angrily back to work again

I watched them lovingly exact the violent vengeance that their society had so long denied them

Laughed hysterically as fictional climate change somehow made their exceptionist land uninhabitable

Found that the best survival strategy for the kids was to combine a loud violence with selfishness

No longer did folks need to choose between poisoned factory produce and costly but wilted organics

And no one questioned their sacred right to bear arms since they were so often taking sniper fire

Found the vast number of now-useless and abandoned fossil fuel vehicles to be strangely disquieting

Saw how women caught out alone became the legitimate target of gang rape and brutal violence

Strangers were shot on sight or forced into cruel slavery without any questions or any legal recourse

Useless skills such as reading and writing were forgotten except by those called on to read the bible

Obesity and lifestyle ills quickly disappeared in peoples whose average life expectancy was only 31

The old, infirm and sick all died at their natural pace without more than familial concern for care

Vast poisoned agribusiness regions left untended, ever so slowly regained a pre-industrial state

Diptheria, rheumatic fever, measles returned to claim many kids who had even survived childbirth

Toilet tissue became but a cultural memory that turned into a fanciful legend in a single generation

I have a nightmare where vast numbers of our obese and ignorant populace simply disappear at once

Gays retreated back to the closet or were killed and abortion was performed only with boot heels

The wounded and handicapped were left behind with a bit of food and a small plastic jug of water

They carried tattered flags about until they all fell to pieces, and no more ever arrived from China

They finally did reduce, refurbish, repurpose and recycle, but only out of hungry stone age necessity

Despite our destructive habits, the earth gradually recovered thanks to our huge population decrease

After the entitlements ended, torches and pitchforks rooted out quivering executives and politicians

Greenhouse emissions finally cratered when all the power plants and refineries were abandoned

No longer were we agitated by unmuffled pickups, jetskis, snowmachines, ATVs, dirtbikes and sirens

Factory fishing ceased quite suddenly and devastated ocean stocks at last began slowly to recover

Prices for bluefin tuna and elephant ivory bottomed with no elite class to sustain that vanity demand

Hot water was only available if boiled over an open fire and kids speculated about electrical outlets

Half-wild dogs and open firepits once again became of utmost importance to our very survival

Unconstitutional taxes were replaced by bribes and sex for protection by petty and violent warlords

They no longer needed to complain about the increasing entitlements and more tax cuts for the rich

But by god, we are all created a helluva lot more equal given the universal squalor of all our lives

Still With You Somewhere Inside

Got up in the cold just to move about alone in the darkness

Crossed high mountain passes on foot to try and get nearer

Slogged thru deeply-frozen valleys as I thought I traveled home

Witnessed sunsets I only wished that we saw together

Almost felt your cool touch when it grew far too hot

Looked up for your hand whenever I tripped and fell

Saw that shapes in blowing clouds helped me find the way

And all that time I knew: I was still with you inside

Lumbered and tripped, dragging my burden

Gestured with foreigners as I tried to reach you

Forded icy streams with you on my mind

Stayed away far too long - And I never knew why

Listened to your voice when I had no one to talk to

Imagined long, clumsily-poetic emails that I never wrote

Shook my head in confusion as I walked alone

Talked to myself on one bad job after another

Stood alone in lines full of couples along with their kids

Stayed by myself in rooms meant for two

Ate many humble meals I had cooked only for me

But at least all the while you traveled with me, inside

Got briefly tangled in lives I could never appreciate

Lost my way totally even though I was headed nowhere

Watched as stars burned in skies that you did not see

Absorbed amazing daylight and gave off some sadness

Helped others sort out singed keepsakes after bad fires

Wore out lots of clothes that were already secondhand

Looked thru frosty windows, from outside in cold darkness

Still, all the while, you were there, with me, inside

Fled from an emptiness to which I must shortly return

Thought I grew wise but actually slowly went blind

Glimpsed you in strange crowds where you’d never be

Wanted to curl up together with you like strands of DNA

Feared for myself thinking you got along fine without me

Gone so long that I stopped reaching for you in the night

Finally realized I did not even know where you were

But, how I always hoped I was still with you, somewhere inside

We're Just Cosmic Background Noise

But we act like our bullshit-filled lives have meaning in the universe...

You’ve briefly attained a venal self-awareness for reasons that, as far as you know are simply random

Arose from somewhere out the cosmic background from which emits the hum of the universal mantra

Your confused memories only go back so far - and they wont extend out for very much longer - either

Yes, the infinite buzz will re-envelop you despite your pathetic, childish notions of a biblical paradise

In the meantime just let yourself be filled by ads and stress out over multitasked inconsequentialities

For all your thoughts emerge as tiny, fractal bubbles which quickly disappear in the surrounding void

You briefly pass a window in an endless dark tunnel and are filled with a flash of astonishing light

Not to worry though, all this foolish nonsense will not outlast your eternal, yet totally fictional, soul

Do not fear their quaint notion of a divine post-mortem accountability - It’s only used to control you

Because you will remember nothing even if your grasping and foolish self somehow is reincarnated

So, don’t count on carrying forward any wisdom, thoughts or remembrances even should it happen

Rather, believe whatever you wish about your future, for disappointment does not exist in the void

Use up your time on petty jealousy, foolish hatred and pathetic hobbies - Cuz it just dont matter!

Dump all the litter you want for it will be incinerated during earth’s demise with the end of our sun

Make all the mindless noise you wish for it can never leave the thin atmosphere we have so polluted

Dont bother saving for your future since even the rich and famous share the identical, empty fate

Though you’ve watched many insects die quickly for nothing you always knew your life meant more

Caught frightening glimpses of a vast emptiness when you were not looking… and quickly turned away

So just keep focus on all those costly but meaningless activities that make your children your friends

Your empty consumerism wont have any consequences so go eat, drink and live merrily – all on credit

Always tried hard to act like you were quite sure there’s more to life than the unending, empty grind

You’ve forever left really important stuff for later cause you’re so damn busy and you still have time

But you’ll be so worn out, drugged up and in so much pain you wont even remember any such things

And not to worry: They will be able to get on with their lives after seeing you off, alone- to wherever

Don’t waste time on such as recycling: For the end of our solar system will totally clean things up

Stop and smell the roses, go for the gusto and live for today cause soon you’ll know nothing: Forever!

Sadly, you’ll miss all the rest of those big games, holidays and special sales, all throughout eternity

But don’t you worry, for you will not feel alone, because there is no loneliness in nothing

You look for meaning only because our brains tell us that things simply should make some sense

And passing briefly through this life and simply disappearing with nothing in sight just cannot be right

Yes, though it’s impossible for your to accept a fate of background inconsequentiality, nonetheless...

Your chirping will die out like the crickets in the fall, with only a bit part played…And that will be all

I Got Like A Minute Old Guy

Tho I hardly can hear you for the roar of our present, I see you gesture, are you calling my name?

Certainly you might have something to say, so what can you tell me, I’ve got like a minute today

Surely after all of your time, a wisdom remains, or is it just creaking bones and memories that fade

God knows I never dreamed that I should even listen but now I might have learned just enough to ask

What can you tell me I could carry off a bit better than say, a couple handfuls of dripping water

Is the only real difference between us the short times left before we both have departed for good?

Surely there’s more to your life than medications, dietary restrictions and lost forget-me-not lists

So what keeps you going now, day after day? Did you at last distill some wisdom from out of this blur

Now that you finally escaped from the ratrace, please tell me – What is it that I am still working for?

And, have you at last had time to actually determine whether, in fact, you are coming or going

I thought I should ask you, cause sometimes I’ve actually considered that it all may simply be futile

For the older I get the faster my employers write off my little, but wasted, economic usefulness

What do you say - are there still things I need to see, or do you spend all of your time safe in the past

I know it may take a while but please try to get back to me before your kids warehouse you for good

Did you take anything from those who came before you or should I ignore you too, exactly the same

Wait, I think you might have been saying something but with all of our noise, I could not quite copy

Likely you’ve developed some reasonable conclusion regarding your onrushing eternal disappearance

Tell me of the great lessons you take from all of the nonsense pounded ceaselessly into your head

Never needed your advice on living but perhaps you can give me your take on preparing for departure

Wait, let me lean close, for your voice has grown faint, yet it looks as if your lips may still be moving