On the brink of the worst scenario.

Obsessive behavior on a global scale.

Dumb regimes hacking email.

The future itself is just one big sale.

Sometimes it feels like Orwell

thirty years in the making.

*

So, who said all this hi-tech, digital stuff at our fingertips

would be good for mankind in the long run?

.

Hitler made fascism a horrific thing

whereas

Corporate America makes fascism 

fun, profitable
and so technologically cool.
  

So does that mean 

fascism is better than a democracy?

I get so tired hearing them say,

'This Is Not What We Are'

when it's exactly what we are.

GOP, the Greatest Party

They governed us into the great depression,

the great resignation, the great privatization
idea and more recently the great recession,

Great! I think to myself, just great!

All this greatness really grates on my nerves.

if she holds her breath and survives the dunking
she is guilty of witchcraft
but if she drowns then she's considered innocent

*

the leader steps out and gets something done
then is accused of doing too much
by those who don't want to do anything

While  shooting pool at the senior center I listened to everyone's opinion about world affairs and it occurred to me so few opinions actually apply to the way people live their life's but just having an opinion seems to make them feel better about themselves.  So, I thought to myself, in haiku, if you

change their opinions

you disrupt the foundations

of their self esteem.

*

We are all so flawed,

so duped and so misinformed.

So American.

The cable guy came by to upgrade my internet modem yesterday.  He told me his company was buying up or pushing out all the other local media providers in the area.  I asked him how it felt working for a monopoly, a criminal venture.  He seemed unaware of this fact but went on to explain how personal circumstances prevented him from finding another job in a area where jobs were hard to find.  I said I thought the economy was in good shape.  He looked at me like I was crazy then he went on a mini-rant about Obama being the blame for everything.  I laughed because you just can't reason with these people.

Nevertheless, my modem is working a lot better than before. 

Monsters Be Forever

In my  youth 

I watched little black kids 

struggling through crowds 

filled with monsters.

Now in old age 

I watch little brown kids 

running from and to 

lands filled with monsters.

*

The Dawn of Humanity

"From here on out," the ancient god said,

"we will call ourselves humans instead of monsters
but don't worry, we'll still be monsters."

The Real Problem

(haiku style)

Ideologies 

are like the metric system

I just can't convert.

Inches are inches.

Centimeter means nothing.

I like being dumb.

All we ever shamelessly prove to the world

is right and wrong, good and evil, life and death

are all marketable items.

*

 We're the world's store app
always running in the background
slowing device and progress,
 turning billionaires to trillionaires.

A Humanitarian Crisis

is when people lose the ability to respond humanely
so I guess
the real crisis is not happening on the border,
it's happening in Washington D.C.

*

When they arrive on the scene of a accident
they hold a hearing and debate every option
while all the injured slowly bleed out
and I suspect
that's how we are presently being governed.

The Cattle Scene
(haiku)

On a dusty trail
the herd meanders along
under spacious skies.

*

They all want riches.
They all want the next big thing.
They all get dry grass.

*

Corporate freedom
is now the new religion.
Moo hallelujah!

Like a Magic Show
(haiku-style)

If you're distracted 

you can be sold anything

like preemptive war,

but once distracted 

you must remain distracted

less you bear the shame

or you can elect
the likes of a whipping-boy
to bear it for you.

Reality Lost

Star struck, dumb struck, 

eyes bulging,  staring

at a two dimensional screen,

makes me want to scream 

wake up!

The Marriage Thing

An exclusive club 

that allows most of us in

is not exclusive 

or even special.

So why do they get upset 

when more fools want in? 

Sound bites simplify 

a vast, overwhelmingly  

complicated world.

*

Believing sound bites 

is like putting all your hope 

on a blade of grass,

or a grain of sand,

or a flash of light,

or a god not there.

Under the Sun

A memory is always vague, always dissipating 

even when remembering yesterday 

yet billion dollar industries are structured upon 

it’s reinvention.

After watching ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ 

I wondered why 

‘Eraserhead’ wasn’t nominated for Academy Awards. 

Then I remembered 

back then we didn’t reward stupidity
like we do now.

Priorities Amiss

You can make them piss their pants 

in five hour long lines,,, waiting to vote.

Deny them service then say you don’t.

Draw all the sick lines,,, constitutionally.
Redistrict to push them further away.

Deny them healthcare and a job to pay

but let them overhear an unkind word 

and oh my god

now you’ve gone too far!

*

Massive tornadoes kill a dozen.
Murderers on the rampage.
Third world war brewing abroad

but the top news story
is another billionaire troll
 bad mouthing his slaves.

Dem to Fan-ocracy 

Soon all elections 

will become auctions. 

Leadership will be sold 

to the highest bidder. 

Voters will cheer from the sidelines.

The Scenic Route 

or Mad Men Heaven

The scene was extraordinary.  

Billboards lining every highway 

overlooking whatever,,,

* * *

Like it or not,
most people learn all they need to know
from advertisements.

The Great Spin

This is the crazy, 

hateful, greed driven world 

our grandfathers gave us 

and they too 

delivered great speeches 

expressing concern 

for their children’s children

and the spin goes on. 

Rivers continue to flow. 

Tides rise and fall.

Seasons subtly change 

as if to say 

it’s suppose to be this way 

over and over again.

At last the right war.  

Oligarchs fight oligarchs.

Both wield steel sanctions.  

‘Stop the oil’ cries one.

‘Take the cash’ cries the other.

All for show I think.

*

Half of that country loves him.
The other half hates him.
Why do we always side with the haters?

*

When corporations get religious freedom
maybe they’ll tell god
what’s going on down here.

The tin man returns, 

vindictively oiled and greased,

spouting stupid stuff.

*

On a blank canvas
they draw invisible lines.
They call it the truth.

What truth? I wonder
but I’m not an art critic
so it must be truth.

Nothing is the truth,
so everyone draws a blank
and the tin man smiles.

*

A millionaire’s truth
is not really quite the same
as a poor man’s truth
but
it’s necessary
to make the poor man believe
his truth is the same.

and here I thought 'high-tech' 

could shoot a gnat off a horse's ass 

at any given distance

but

when it comes to an enormous jetliner,  

it seems 'high-tech' isn’t so high.

Cold Standoff 

There they go again, 

puffing up their chests in pride, 

aggressively lame 

like scared animals 

getting ready for a fight

they will never fight.

Haiku and the Tao.

Seventeen syllable thoughts

expressing a way.

*

For great mysteries 

there must be six billion ways 

to say ‘I don’t know’.

*

Combating boredom
is the national pastime.
They call it freedom.

Grown-up Stuff

It’s funny how we’re force fed all this garbage 

then somehow make ourselves think 

it’s all gourmet.

Like a beginning smoker who coughs and hacks 

till the pain subsides 

then somehow thinks it’s all pleasurable.

We always need a good enemy.

Someone to truly hate,  justified.

Someone to tower over, belittle 

and ridicule,  righteously.

Whether it be an opposing team,
a bad neighbor or a mad dictator
we need a good enemy
because our hate runneth over.

* * *

A ten year old is probably our best judge
when it comes to determining who’s breaking
international laws
since he won’t remember the last time
we broke those same laws.

The only symptom of the dreaded disease
was an excessive want for more.
Aside from that it went totally undetected
and infected the whole world.

It’s simple, in a nutshell 

it all comes down to 

a dozen more nutshells, 

maybe a hundred, a million, 

perhaps billions 

of nutshells in a nutshell.

*


One thing I like,
I like the way the president can stand up there
and act like he’s talking to a rational people.

To me it seems like he’s a lone human talking to a world of dogs.
Some look at him inquisitively like dogs do and wag their tails
while others bark and growl but most just act like he’s not there

and continue devouring each other.

Everyday Now

Aerial views of malls and schools,
and weeping interviews  

sure to fill time slots for days to come 

with annoying repetition.

People like ants scurry 

this way and that, some in lines 

others with hands held high, 

all know the position to assume 

in this everyday exhibit of doom.

Friendly Foe

Our enemy is so infiltrated 

we actually think it’s our best friend.

We love it’s way and everyday 

mindlessly obey it’s every command.

It points over there 

and over there we stare

as it defeats us right here 

with our hate and fear.

*

Clichés, platitudes and hearsay
fill my brain everyday
making me think I can actually know
the depths of anything.

After the audio book ended 

I wondered, 

can I say I read a good book 

or just heard it was good?

Banking on Decrepit

The illusive dream you always forget 

is the American dream

and the scariest thing you will ever do 

is grow old

and no insurance plan, affordable or not
will ease that fear.

*

Occasionally I attend these senior events,
mingle a bit
and find myself thinking,
Jesus! I sure hope I don’t end up like that.

Normal at last

I started off at the bottom, 

chained to the old way 

and finally, 

after a lifetime of struggle 

I broke free

and acquired mediocrity, 

anonymity, 

and the guise of normality.

The Content

One network lightly salted it’s bowl of crap and the ratings went up, 

so the second network decided to add pepper to it’s bowl of crap 

and the ratings went higher.  

The third network salted and peppered it’s crap and heaped it on plates 

and the ratings skyrocketed, 

so the first and second went out and bought bigger and prettier plates.

Political issues

are like swirling, double-edged swords.

  Shiny, moral and impressive from afar   

but up close they cut asunder.

Jobs are already hard to find 

so to remedy the problem 

throw millions of new seekers 

into the pot 

might be legal in a couple states
but regulating it might 

incarcerate more than before 

you sign up 

for any of this insurance stuff  

ask yourself how another bill 

prevents anyone from getting ill 

gotten gain   

seems to underline every issue, 

devised by masters of deceit 

long before the cutting begins.

Effective Dysfunction

Lie about everything

then watch them waste all their time

proving you a liar.

After awhile

everyone will forget all the lies

but they will remember you.

*

A Decade Later

Quiet and serene

where never a scream

can be heard

a beast sits

with brush in hand

trying to paint

the lies away,

shocking and awing

every passer-by.

*

Dow Jones Sideshow

The clown with the balloon 
blows and blows 
like there’s no end in sight 

and circling him all around 
jumping up and down
kiddies squeal with delight.