Consumerism

by

anything for a fix…

after
a blood pressure rising
shopping outing
to
costco
i
dropped by
aunt bea’s
to
share
a few items
i
thought
she might
enjoy
aunt bea
said
i went
there
once
but
decided not
to
return
since
i almost lost
a limb
reaching for
one of those
free samples
they
pass out
seems
the fellow
behind me
hadn’t eaten
for the last decade
and
was willing
to
kill for
a vienna sausage
he pushed me aside
like
a cruise passenger
disembarking
after
four consecutive sea days
it took
several days
for
the bruises
to heal
i still
find it strange
that
our humanity
can be
reduce
to
primal behaviors
with
such
low-level
pavlovian
stimuli

 

by

nothing personal…

tourist items
manufactured in china
for
the local market
replicated
indigenous art
sold in
riverbank stalls
by
part-time natives
natives
carving out
an existence
in
a one percent world
complaints
issued
by
travelers
who’ve
already
sold their collective humanity
they are
the commune
of
anesthetized day-trippers
who
outline
verbally
over
an air-conditioned lunch
the crass nature
of
indigenous commerce
commerce
that
replicates
the
world
that provided
their passage
to
this
riverside
market

 

by

oh have it your way but…

he always
took
the lion’s share
tho
most of us
know
that
the lioness
is the true hunter
but
that is
just an aside
he also
insisted
that
he be given
the largest glass
filled to the brim
with
wine or ale
and
she
would
always comply
but
one day
in passing
she said
smiling
have you considered
that
the largest glass
also
can contain
the largest
amount
of
poison

 

by

president’s compromise…

 

a new flood
of
hatred
hatred
that has washed
over
our nation
and
our world
it
has left
in its wake
an unrecognizable
wasteland
where
the bloated corpse
of
the great experiment
in
freedom
has been dashed
against
the rocks
of
ignorance
pushed there
by
a current
of
data points
from
political
consulting firms

 

by

the grim count…

 

scrape the surface
of
ancient layers
of
life’s mud
and then
clear away
broken remnants
of history
from
hope’s vacant lot
a lot
strewn
with
the trash
of
shredded lies
and
uncover
the specter
of
mass murder
human
sacrifices
children
buried
in shallow graves
violent
sacrifices
to
an array
of
gods
gods
all
cast
in the image
of
those
who declare
that
their
god
is
the
only
true god
gods
that are
wrapped
in
patriotic
or
religious
flags
godly causes
less
than divine
and
perhaps
more
commercial
or
ego based
thus
one must
gently brush away
the loose sand
of
alibis
to
expose
the skeletal remains
hidden in
the mass burial sites
sites
in
palestine
yemen
sudan
and
along
the
american border
where
one sees
the splayed
bodies
of
children
victims
offered
in
carefully orchestrated
acts
of
ritual sacrifice
to
appease
human greed

 

by

baby it’s cold outside…

 

keeping up her tan
at taxpayers’ expense cost
3.6 million
soup line government workers
without pay should just eat cake