No Time For Frogs

Cant help the cattle, wont save the redwoods, dont need them sissy robins

No money for clean air, cant aid cooped-up chickens, dont care about sick bees

Not fooling with emissions, no loans for poisoned orcas, dont want them boreal toads

Aint against clearcutting, wont fight over-population, not paying for junk science

Stopped cleaning up the rivers, not paying for proper disposal, dont care if it’s quiet

No time for wack orangs, wont buy carbon credits, dont believe in universal healthcare

Cant listen right now anyway, not adoptin no new lifestyles, done financing fixin highways

Pushing back against socialism, too busy to study history, not talking about any pig farms

Letting that Amazon go, dont ask for starry darkness, wont miss a few polar bears

No earmarks for amphibians, not a cent for snakes, no point to them monarch butterflies

Cant sponsor fat gorillas, Not lobbying for the thrifty, no time for earthworms

Not aiming for the sustainable, done listening to liberals, aint campaignin for safe food

No microloans for poor villagers, not striving for perfection, gave up freedom marching

Aint removing all the lead paint, wont stop that coral bleaching, passing on them yogas

Forgot about good soil, dont fret over ocean plastic, cant care for them chimp chumps

Not concerned by clearcut redwoods, passing on the pygmies, letting go of the lakes

Cant feed the poor, not subsidizing renewables, wont vote for arms reduction

Not restoring rivers for salmon, not makin room for grizzlies, no sympathy for wolves

No time for meditatin, dont pickup no litter, really just dont like books a bit

Dont care about good bridges, wont pay extra for clean coal, not looking at lazy wildflowers

No need of wilderness, too late for the albatross, too hurried to go take a walk

Get out with those bike trails, stop boring me with history, no bailout for the whales

No budget for flyways, wont pay for migration routes, not giving for rain forests

Too busy to preserve habitat, wont prevent overpopulation, no time for haggard refugees

Not backing orphan bonobos, just let the damn tuna go, no welfare for shiftless tigers

Not investing in lasting peace, just saying no to research, aint gonna go do the math

Wont embrace retreaded socialism, too tired to exercise, not giving up on fast food

Not guaranteeing privacy, no monies for prevention, not afraid of a little illiteracy

No funds for birth control, no time to sit and think, not afraid to just say ferget it

Not responsible for the future, wont underwrite recycling, no taxes for new sewers

no sympathy for green energy, don’t care about efficiency, not voting for good schools

not supporting teeny electric cars, pullin the plug on solar, no way we’re saving water

wont boycott tasty veal, dont sweat Chinese pollution, aint afraid of fake climate change

no stimulus for snow leopards, no place for sissies, not buying liberal pipe dreams

had enough of “Save the Trees”, don’t want to go in-depth, go away with going green

not flip-flopping on defense, wont embrace un-aborted children, ain’t got no time for frogs

My Test Results Revealed

They quickly just sewed me back up after seeing I was lousy with inoperable bitterness

My tests all came back with an astonishingly high level of aggressively vapid pettiness

They removed a bloody tumor of hatred the size of a lemon from the inside of my skull

My symptoms all pointed towards full blown infection with a virulent & selfish greed

They told me at first that the operation probably had gotten all of my foolish pride

Lab results indicated a black void of willful ignorance growing steadily within me

The specialist confirmed that although I could hear well, I was totally unable to listen

Cutting into my consciousness the surgeons were sprayed with advertising images

An MRI revealed there was indeed a large deposit of lead lodged deep within my posterior

Further tests revealed I saw only a narrow tunnel and was unable to turn my head

My blood work indicated that I was profoundly low on morals, faith and scruples

A noted surgeon recommended silicon to augment the emptiness I had always felt within

My imbalance of understanding led to a toxic overproduction of hatred that then built up inside

They found a ruptured valve that continuously leaked burning apprehension deep into my gut

A moral blockage prevented me from ever feeling the effect of my actions upon any others

Their expensive drugs enhanced my will to live which had atrophied with age

Indeed, that greenish tint derived from my body’s inability to eliminate its envy

A biopsy of my spleen showed it full of the bitterest form of unvented self-rejection

They had to go in and relieve the great pressure that anger was putting on my brain

The blood flow to my heart was nearly stopped by an accumulation of ill will

The phantom pains I suffered near my colon were due to my job and my wife

They removed the thick deposits of resentment that were causing my feet to drag

A malignantly enlarged ego had impaired my ability to observe my own foolishness

My overproduction of sarcasm was related to the large quantity of faith that I had lost

They determined I could not differentiate my own vent from random excavations

Their analysis concluded that I did, indeed, suffer from chronic cranial rectosis

Genetic sampling revealed a self-entitled tendency towards amoral sales behavior

My blood sample came back positive for a real belief in the lies that they had me read

Scans revealed a potentially catastrophic buildup of frustration about my tongue

They extracted a writhing mass of unrelated marketing images from deep inside my trachea

He recommended avarice thinners to alleviate my potentially fatal grasping

They determined removing my morals would likely curb this crippling idealism

Operating on a cyst of stubbornness they discovered my large fistula of frustration

Surgeons said they could correct my congenitally permanent sarcastically-knowing smirk

They said their latest drug could reduce my potentially fatal artery-clogging sloth

Yet their ultrasonic images showed a very small boy still laughing deep within me

Creeping Out

There creeping out and squeakin ther timid, whinin I told ya so’s

Sneakin by in them teeny used jap econo cars, they paid off so long ago

Bein real quiet fixin up they undersized fixed-rate homes all by theyselves

They’re cookin they own meals and stayin thin but seemin really nervous

Not drinkin pricey lattes or drivin out for lunch with they posse every day

Washin they own clothes and even hangin they towels outside on clotheslines

Walkin and ridin bicycles like the sissy girls they want us real men ta act just like

Cutting they emissions and savin on they energy costs, over there behint our backs

Beating our smoking snowmobiles into lamely quiet little green motor scooters

Askin us to tax and legalize them deviated buds theys always smokin

Payin off they credit cards each month without any finance chargis

Not even on their way towards high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes or diabetes

Creeping out after decades of what they call our scary wasteful foolishness

Trying to lead openly now by queer example instead of scuttling off to the side

Still stayin real quiet inside they downsized cribs and not even celebratin

Coming out among us in old clothes to buy parts to fix up they broken, repurposed, used shit

Even taking out their silly recycling mess right during the light of day

Filling up for a fourth of what we are pumping into our good ole giant diesel pickups

Carpoolin all like openly progressive together just to save a little CO2 and money

Not even callin on our ads for them big used Harleys with the payments so long overdue

Tiptoein right on by the exurban mega-church on they way to science classes

Havin fun conservin junk and enjoyin cutting down on what they think we waste

But still throwin lots of money away on organic vegies and grass-fed meats

Plannin on guttin out our great military to leave us open to foreign dEvE8s

Carryin they lame tofu and shit home in them filthy little cotton sacks

Squintin at the labels, checking out the calories, fat and additives and shit

Strappin wack expensive wind and solar junk up on toppa they well-insulated roovetops

Cutting off they lectrick crap at night to save a coupla pennies and some coal smoke

Startin to walk beside the roads even where we drive our SUVs and pickup trucks

Ain’t even bellyin up to the drive-thru line for shakes and fries and double bacon cheeseburgs

Whisperin something about health care starting with self-responsible pervention

Quietly lettin they nice lawns turn brown just to stop waterin and fertilizing and weed killin

Creeping out to the thrift stores stead of savin Chinese Big down ta the Wal*Mart

Tryin to like steal the motivation from the rich by redistributin they hard-earned wealth

Turning down they thermostats and wearin sweaters right in they squirrelly homes

Bitin at our heels on TV and shit then hightailin they green asses back to they tiny dens

My Safe Places

dancing with the Incas in their ancient worship of the holy snow-capped Andes

floating off towards untouchable blue Tibetan peaks with chanting Buddhist monks

surfing with the seals in the rich smelling foamy waves there in a far-off NorCal paradise

pollinating lovely infrared flower patterns with the other bees on my honey-making job

spending time in the New Stone Age, crafting tools and fighting cave bears

orbiting our earth at the very limit of the exosphere, taking in all her colors

roiling with a strong clean river, smelling the big migrating salmon flashing all around me

getting covered with red desert sandstone dust in all its finely-ground Anasazi grace

peeping out with tiny montane tundra flowers after 8 months beneath deep snow

speeding with the suns reflection across the cup of a huge, cleanly breaking swell

pausing beneath the midnight sun to watch the rivers running to the north

taking in the winter light from a panoramic southern exposure, far from any road

pushing across the bluest sky with the puffy clouds on that perfect day in May

Hunting with the dolphins, co-operating with the bluefins, feeding on the life force

Losing my pre-conceptions as I drop their illusions and tear up my prescriptions

Circulating with the oceanic currents, from the surface to the bottom, all around the globe

Slaloming the methane powder mountains all alone, on the active moons of Saturn

Savoring fresh Indian ocean sushi with the great whites off the coast of South Africa

crossing the Bering Strait with mammoths, admiring vast herds of ice age mega-fauna

fattening with the giant brown bears as my coat grows thick and glossy

watching the first spring sunrise with the emperors on Antarctica’s frozen coast

dining on tons of krill strained through my baleen right alongside the great blue whales

gleaming in the dancing rainbows off the shimmering green cliffs of the Hawaiian coast

sighing with the ponderosa pines as we hear another gust of autumn wind approaching

waiting on the tide for dinner as the rain tinkles above us on the Inside Passage

riding on the chords of good music to a place so far above, where I can only try to stay

watching the sled dogs pull our family away from my final place, alone upon an ice floe

raking that impeccable garden for an eternal moment in a quiet Zen sanctuary

searching blue canyonland shadows with the eyes of a Navajo medicine man

painting spirit creatures on the walls of our ceremonial cave in ancient Spain

meditating with the Buddha beneath the great tree of life, pondering the river’s gentle whispers

gazing up from sunlit coral gardens through the warm waters of our mother ocean

searching for more reassuring sign of the totem that guides me all the days of my life

crying out with the hawks far above by the cliffs where the sunset still radiates

howling with the wolfpack at 30 below beneath the aurora borealis, feeling our mortality

seeking that ancient understanding pulsing so close beneath the thin skin of things

A Dead Bird

A dead bird with stuck-together feathers

Dusty claws on scaly black legs clutching at the air

This dead bird weighing almost nothing

Rotted on the side where she’d been laying

A dead bird with her broken beak askew

Oddly not easily fleeing at a dog’s snuffling approach

Her eye open but glazed and empty of all its living luster

This dead bird in a grocery bag gliding toward a dumpster

A dead bird that children still cannot ever touch

Feathers no longer iridescent when pressed into the earth

The crows came quickly and spoke over top her broken body

This dead bird whose calls no one could remember

A dead bird lying down in the grass unlike any others

Surrounded by a loss of feathers amidst her snow-like down

This dead bird with a silent mate perched in some nearby tree

Lets the cold fall rain drench right through her tiny bones

A dead bird smudged and dirty like she never was before

Wing cocked up, down there in that little ditch

Floating with the runoff draining from the road

This dead bird that I see again as I lay close to sleeping

Waving Goodbye To Their Future

Every day they seem to slip just a little bit further out of our grasp

Their color isn’t good and it’s almost like they no longer care

They’re even less aware than our dear children - whom they cannot recognize

But at some point they gotta realize we got lives of our own to live

Lots of us are saying they’ll just have to be able to take care of themselves

Life must go on for we the living, so we’ll just have to let them go

It’s not like we don’t got our own futures covered, what with christ and all

So we’ll just take a moment to wave goodbye from amidst our noisy fortunes

After all, we are, one and all, in this competition called the pursuit of happiness

Their far-off signals are pretty much indecipherable along our hurried way

So we’ll see them off and wish them well on whatever road that they may find

We cannot sacrifice our very lives providing for all their needs forever

They do not seem to grasp the vitally important nature of our feverish pursuits

They cannot share the passions which consume us to the exclusion of all else

Their silent presence can become oppressive when we have so much to do

We all must learn we just have to let them go - even if they might not go away

They cannot realize the immense burden their simple presence generates

In any case, how can they expect their milk without fighting for a teat

Their passive and unwavering silence cannot fail to hurt their cause

Because the earth’s sweet goods get divvied up to whomever grabs the most

But every day our own needs seem greater and their voices grow even fainter

So we leave them on an ice floe or cast them into the river in tiny fragile boats

We borrow a moment to wave goodbye and then hurry back upon our noisy way

We grant them their freedom and independence, out of sight and out of mind

We absolve ourselves of knowledge, responsibility and any guilt on their behalf

We wish them well and wave goodbye and promise we’ll meet again, somewhere up in heaven

So we set the children of the future free that we might get on with our own pressing lives

We forever turn our backs on them for we have determined to have it all today

I Was A Predatory Capitalist Leader

I was a leader, safely locked inside my walled compound each and every night

A captain of commerce whose value to a firm was not measurable by accountants or the board

My pasty complexion and expensive suit masking a savage predatory capitalist

I was in absolute control of the great corporate ship, from my penthouse suite

Cadres of suckups competed for just the briefest moments of my attention

My time was deemed worth thousands of dollars per hour by my simpering lackeys

I pushed buttons controlling my political puppets from behind expensive closed doors

I lobbied for opening markets, protective tariffs and subsidies – so as to rake in huge bonuses

I played hardball with other swashbuckling executives groomed just like me

I OK’d worthless investment instruments and later said I had never understood them

I assured myself an ironclad golden parachute before even assuming any new position

We avoided any regulation, ruined the markets and then secured whopping, no-strings bailouts

I was borne secretly about in a personal helicopter to my private corporate jet

We assured them the crumbs of our prosperity trickled down thru our drains to them

I was a leader who one only saw accompanied by a trophy wife and a greasy lawyer

We innovated trade in leveraged gambles and stopped investing in actual business

I routinely merged, downsized, outsourced, raised prices, decreased services and got bonuses

I was on the cutting edge of a new global paradigm in corporate entrepreneurship

We called for personal responsibility as we reneged on all their promised benefits

We ignored their old and irrelevant lessons, for we were a new breed for a new age

I had my autobiography written and portrayed myself as folksy, kind and wise

We paid for candidates who granted us huge tax breaks and ended government oversight

I was a leader who read empty prepared statements and then jumped into waiting limos

I welcomed the chance to clear my name but dared not say a word on my own behalf

I cast a blind eye as our unregulated foreign suppliers adulterated our products

With global vision I exported our pollution to where slave labor was encouraged

I had spin doctors call for calm even as we unloaded our own toxic investments onto the taxpayers

When I had my assets secured I testified live about how awful it all made me feel

I was a leader for whom quarterly profit and stock price served as the only true guiding lights

We secured de-regulation, ran amuck until things collapsed, then whined for help

We stepped outside national boundaries, dangling bad jobs for great concessions

We quietly manipulated policy from the background, having bought & paid for the elections

I was paid millions to take total control but disavowed all responsibility in the end

I watched their panic from comfort, safety and security, decreed to be too big to fail

We received bonuses with gov’t bailout money even as we tightened up on our loan standards

I was a great leader whose vision and wisdom surely will be treasured by your children

In My Staunchly-Conservative Christian Heart

In my heart I just know we have the best healthcare system in the whole entire world

Years of prayer have forged in me a belief that religious fanatics must be stopped

Deep inside, something tells me they are poor because they are both inferior and lazy

Our Traditional Family ValuesÔ are so deeply ingrained I never question where they come from

I take it on faith that abortion and gay marriage are weighty government social issues

For me, talking with my savior yields guilt-free and forever unquestionable decisions

I know in my heart that Social Darwinism is god’s chosen way and that I am an exceptionist survivor

The defense industry’s bogeyman message reverberates in me with a frightening ring of truth

In my heart I know they’ll create better new jobs – just as soon as they export all our old ones

I can believe simultaneously in personal responsibility and deficit bailout spending

Of course I should save, but social security is rightfully funded by pay as you go

The core values she instilled in me, drive me to visit my Mother once a week at the nursing home

My gut tells me that we cannot ever afford to go soft on defense, like those squishy liberals

Just looking at them, I know these precious children of mine will someday lead the world

Something deep within me whispers that our Savior must take a leading role in our governance

It is our sacred ancient belief that the government should remain forever outside of business

In my heart, the traditional values of jobs and money prevail over such as idle tree-hugging

I never question that many generations to come will shop and be entertained much as we do

Surely it is unequivocally right for our leaders to bid that God Bless America after every speech

Our collective wisdom warns that worn-out failed socialist programs should never be revived

I don’t need junk science or fuzzy math to know climate change is simply a costly con job

The wisdom of our forbearers guides us, though events 10 years ago are irrelevant history

I harbor deep-seated suspicions about resurrecting those failed liberal policies of the past

Litmus wedge issues vibrate in my heart, ringing with importance and self-evident truth

Well certainly, I know from their ads that our food supply is safe, humane and sustainable

It’s obvious to me that they’ll have found inexpensive alternatives once all the oil is gone

My heart knows that retaining focus on the current quarter’s GDP ensures all of our futures

I just know that invisible corporate leaders are selflessly charting a wise course for us all

I take on faith the dictum that no one has the right to limit our number of children

Our clear role as god’s fruitful stewards is to triage the natural world based solely upon our needs

Anyone can see that turning boggy, insect-ridden wetlands into suburbs is real progress

Externalities like air, water and habitat are simply no concern of government or business

Yes, I accept the need for hands-off bailouts based on the dire warnings of our leaders

Their knowing smirks and dismissive laughter strike true chords deep inside my heart

It is self-evident that we require neither expense nor sacrifice to stay our noble course

I am warmed by my certainty that our god has blessed only us, His one and only chosen people

The Moocher’s Tale

Fancy shades ripped closed to block out our slow and awkward passing

We heard their car doors electrically locking when we drew limpingly too near

Pulling in their children they dropped their eyes and moved away

We felt the wind of their vehicles passing far too closely as we slunk along

Their hands grasped to assure their valuables as they left us in their hurried wake

Lights came on as we shuffled by, we were part of the cold and dark they kept outside

Infants stared blankly back as they were carried quickly away from us

Their elder’s eyes focused at points somewhere below and beside our dirty faces

We walked where they only drove and tasted their palpable distrust as well as their exhaust

They had us removed from public places when we made them feel ill at ease

They laughed and talked louder just to utterly crush our too-silent presence

We tried to act like we did not notice that they pretended not to see us

We walked in their hand-me-downs but we were not their children or their brothers

They swept their dust out upon us as we fumbled through their leftovers

We could not avoid their blank stares even though dark glasses hid their eyes

They brushed themselves with vigor after our chance and accidental contact

They learned to just step over us as we learned to sit sleeping where they walked

They grew impatient with our simple nagging presence every day in their busy lives

We stood in long lines waiting outside their pale in anticipation of rumored handouts

We let go our privacy and re-evaluated our dignity under dingy yellow city lights

We were the bogeyman but our own kids fled the onrushing vans of faceless soccer mommies

They tried to trap us in a net of ordinances but we slipped thru like spineless jellyfish

The papers ran short paragraphs when their misfits beat one of us to death at night

They shook their heads when we froze to death outside the over-filled homeless shelters

We crowded dirtily into the libraries and city parks, much to their disgust

Possessed of neither cell phones nor addresses, no good jobs awaited us

Our children crawled the floors of downsized welfare offices in growing grimy numbers

They covered their faces as we coughed and hacked and spit as they passed nearby

Social workers never approached us without medical gloves and often they wore masks

The garbage men and street sweepers looked down with great disdain upon us

They charged us with vagrancy and public nuisance since we had nowhere else to go

Too many offered us their help, but only on Christmas and Thanksgiving day

We shuffled by honest citizens from understaffed shelters to overcrowded rescue missions

We spent days waiting at the ER trying to drive up their health insurance premiums

We ate day-old bread in cast-off clothes as our kids noses ran and we choked upon despair

We finally realized our lives were better left unseen and our needs best left unspoken

MayDay

Anybody out there, mayday, mayday, smoke and dust is filling up the cockpit

It keeps on getting hotter and we’re running out of drinking water

Everybody’s shoutin and our power’s gettin really low

Be advised there’s heavy smoke showing and we’re surrounded by perps with guns

We’re flying on one engine and our rudder’s been sheared off

Everybody’s fightin on the decks below and we got no lookouts aloft

We’re taking on dark liquids and choking on our own exhaust

Chain of command is broken and the loud and greedy think that they’re in charge

Lost track of our position a while ago in unfamiliar, storm-filled waters

If you can hear my voice, please send some help to this location real soon

Some team members aren’t responding but we don’t have any time to search

The officer in charge has been shouting but command has not been making any sense

A bunch of us are trapped with no supplies in a shaft with this acidic liquid oozing in

It’s really dark but even if our lights weren’t out there’s still too much smoke to see

There’s a lot of guys with injuries, but all we got are some aspirins and a coupla tiny band-aids

Sent out a recon mission that accidentally stumbled back, finding nothing and nobody else

Things around here sure don’t seem right, there’s dead stuff laying all around

Plants are looking sickly and we haven’t been hearing a single bird

Found a couple kids but even when we fed them they wouldn’t hardly talk

Our Dear Leader keeps saying we’re alright and he and his buddies even look OK

It’s like a massive spill from infinite freight trains, all mixing their unknown contents

The rain has turned all black and we’re choking on the chemicals in the dust

Looks like the food here has been poisoned by some unknown contamination

Residents are advised to take shelter until we can determine the nature of the spill

Feels like we’re goin down on fire into some slimy cesspool, without any parachutes

The tower’s not responding and the runway lights aren’t working

I’m running low on air and I’m trapped alone here in this confining darkness

We copy that we are now assured that no relief crews will ever be forthcoming

Can’t carry out our wounded but Cap says it’s time to get out now

The chaplain started laughing and crying and then heaved up his guts

The tones keep going off but we are learning to ignore them

Been hearing only laughing foreign voices on our own emergency frequencies

Cut All This Stupid Wasteful Crap

Remove the ever-swelling tumor they winkingly euphemize as dEfense spending

Stop wasting millions of hours watching fat men bending over in tight stretch pants

Quit simply throwing out those 5 billion free plastic shopping bags you used only once

Don’t waste any more good advertising dollars on abrasive talking head spin doctors

Silence the 250 hp outboards and raucous OHVs used for our wanton so-called wreckreation

Curb our immense waste of paper, metal, glass and plastic by charging national deposits

Stop throwing money over there, make their oil unnecessary and leave them to their deserts

Don’t rip up more open land - Make them rebuild their cheap and worn-out strip malls

Quit repeating untold hours mowing, weeding, fertilizing and watering fake lawns

Turn the flood plains into parks and croplands but don’t rebuild homes there again

Stop the countless unnecessary trips riding all alone in obese, low-mileage roadhogs

Curb the waste of multi-generational single-parent families educated only in our prisons

Keep a quarter deposit on each set of fast food wrappers and utensils tossed away

Quit turning unnoticed extra calories from unhealthy food into unattractive, deadly fat

End the total waste of money on that pointless and long ago lost war on drugs

Quit destroying any place we love with your identical slash and burn developments

Stop unaffordable credit spending based solely on guilt implanted by corporate merchant holidays

Cut your gas terrorist subsidy and CO2 footprint along with this foolish worship of overpriced pickups

Insulate, wear a sweater and quit wasting money, fuel and emissions like a simple ignorant child

Put away the 60’ RVs with noisy generators towing 3 ton SUVs and 2 tiny people

End the bitterly divisive waste of time regarded now as the normal legislative process

Stop wasting precious socio-political bandwidth on phony wedge and values issues

Curb the 40% of our emissions that arise from the unnecessary and the inefficient

Cut the hopeless and expensive foolishness of multi-lingual government claptrap

Quit piling debt on the future while wasting the resources they’ll need to pay them back

Cut the thoughtless, random and chaotic noise that shatters the good & protective silence

Overcome the arrogant exceptionist righteousness we had our one true savior grant only to us

Decrease our dependence on shoddy goods built by foreign peasant slave labor

Forget the childish fantasy that easy credit is a safe & longterm source of household income

Disavow their myth of eternal compound growth for that of an economic steady state

Stop subsidizing the wasteful notion that prevention costs more than treatment

Focus and trigger nightlights instead of wasting good energy to simply hide the stars

Quit mining fossil water to grow grain for cows that need antibiotics just to digest them

End wasted bailouts meant to revive Ponzi financing and foolish credit spending

Reduce global population enough so that our frenzied activities do not threaten our very existence

Quit wasting so much energy trying to save a little time – Time that you will never get to spend

I'm Higher Than Mommie

I’m sipping right along now with Mommie thru my little navel straw

Getting a real taste for her cool menthol cigarettes and that cheap lite beer

My tiny ears are pricking up hearing country music from underwater

I’d be really lightheaded if I wasn’t already floating so very freely

It’s warm and dark in here so I cant see the dirty modular where I’ll soon be living

Those piled up dirty dishes and filthy carpet do not bother me at all

Don’t know why I get all scared and nervous when my daddy gets to yelling

I’m higher than my Mommie is, cause she’s sharing everything equally with me

I can taste all the smells of the shrink-wrapped stuff down to our local Wal*Mart

The diesel exhaust from Daddy’s big old truck goes right into my fetal bloodstream

I like my coffee in the morning but it makes me weewee just like Mommie

I get my nutrients from white bread, hamburg and adulterated chinese vitamin pills

I’ll tell you what, my growing brain just loves that Crank as much as my scratchy Mommie

I knew that she was real upset when that last tooth fell out, but, hey, I aint got none, neither

Coming out real soon to crawl the welfare office floors just the same as she did

I would have cried when Daddy punched her but no one could have heard

Sometimes she feels me kicking for a little quiet, as they cackle on the couch at 4:00 AM

She takes me to work sometimes cleaning houses and I can taste the cleansers

When daddy and his friends get to shouting at the TV sports it scares me half to death

I try to roll over and hide my head, but I just have to depend totally on my Mommie

I’ve got pretty blue eyes and cute little fingers and I take in everything she does

I listen as my big sister wipes her dirty nose as it’s buried over me on Mommie’s lap

She don’t talk too well and no one knows why but she’s also short and overweight

But I’m still warm and safe and totally helpless here inside my beloved Mommie

It wasn’t much different for my Mommie or her Mommie going back a few generations

The drugs and environmental contaminants are different but our attitudes are still the same

We all started out just as perfect and as pink and as innocent as I remain right now

And I don’t know no better so my inescapable life will still be all like wondrous to me

The dingy walls that close in on her aren’t as nice as my safe place here in her tummy

She shelters me from the scabies, impetigo, bedbugs, roaches and nasty head lice

I’m picking up on TV though, cause it’s blaring through to me all the time

Sometimes when she lays wrong I don’t know it, but her obesity is squeezing me

I hear my grandma’s laughter morphing into a nicotine coughing fit just above my head

But by then my little world is spinning gently cause it’s finally time for bed

And my love is already smilingly unconditional for I am totally helpless and dependent

So, I’m higher than my Mommie is cause I’m younger, innocent and totally at her mercy

Our Live Eco-Death Watch

Silently we document our progress in destroying the earth, even as it still sustains us

Uncomprehendingly we chart the unplanned spread of our vast and poisoned cities

We note that our microscopic plastic particulates crowd out the ocean’s protozoa

Tallying the number of extinctions like sheep, squishy Greenies fall again into a restless sleep

Jotting down the count of poisoned rivers and ruined lakes helps occupy our hands

The amount of cropland gone to desert every year is one vital sign that folks are tracking

The coal-fired consumer progress of India and China fills our patients lungs

We note with compassion that our numbers grow even as the count of species drops

We observe animals struggling to adjust their ranges apace with climate change

Dispassionately we sum forests slashed for firewood, temporary cropland and cheap construction

Spreadsheets correlate rising ocean acidification with parts per million of CO2

Our budgets unemotionally reflect increases in defense and corresponding cuts to child care

With a detached accuracy, lab tests reveal annual increases in river contaminants

Mourning elders recount the joy and wonder of the prematurely old and dying world they knew

Studies show marine life riddled with our mutagens and metals, but offer no solutions

Unable to assist we do, however, await the continuing stream of expert reports

We self-anoint ourselves with the title of the first life form to produce a mega-extinction

Seated on vinyl chairs in a dark hospital, we watch as our population metastasizes

We observe weakened circulation as another great river fails to reach the sea

The loss of the arctic icecaps is a mere side effect, like the balding of a chemo patient

We measure the growing number of those depending on shrinking fossil water wells

Experts point to the strictly increasing number of life forms which must disappear to sustain us

Holding back our emotions, we duly note our command to our god that he bless us

We write of the annually-increasing record temperatures to distant loved ones

We note briefly that economic conditions force us away from environmental concerns

We are able to disassociate ourselves from the victim’s plight, at least in our minds

Many among us still reject the truth and refuse to discuss funeral arrangements

Rodents and insects scurry about in greedy preparation for our inescapable demise

We stand wrinkled and disheveled in gray hallways overfilled with strange echoes

And experts offer little life support for any of the many systems failing, all at once

Young scientists rush to catalog new species from the first and only individuals ever to be found

We document changes to fishes in waters filled with fire retardants and hormones

Government leaders can only assure us they are doing everything the best that they can

We still await an experimental breakthrough yielding a quick fix and a happy ending

But there are those who just want this horrible suffering to simply finally be over

And at last the bells are ringing, ringing, calling us home thru an odd false twilight

Ignoring The Blind Curves Up Ahead

There’s blind curves coming up but, not to worry, our true faith will see us on thru

They best watch out for us wherever their unfenced stock is roaming

Though we got foggy conditions up ahead, there ain’t no time for slowin down

It’s slippery when wet, but, your see, we got not time to lose - at all

Mind you watch out for them children playin, cuz we’ll just keep on speedin

Caint be slowin down now for just a little bit of rain

Gotta keep on truckin even though it’s already been 16 amped-up hours

Don’t you dare to swerve if a deer should jump out in the road

There’s a dip ahead but there aint no point in brakin now

Them speed limit signs are merely a little bit of friendly free advice

Hey, that yellow light means ta hurry up on thru that next intersection

That flashing sign don’t apply to us, so you just keep on a goin

There’s a sharp curve at the bottom, but our brakes may not be too hot

He’s kickin back a lot of gravel but we need to get up real close sos we can pass

It’s a narrow bridge so keep this big rig pushed right in towards the middle

We can negotiate these blind curves with the bright light from our blind faith

There’s a jam up there so just go ahead and pass them all on the right

That STOP sign ahead doesn’t apply to us because we’re on a special mission

Quick, flip out that trash right here where nobody else can see us

This semi don’t move over one bit for pedestrians, cyclists or accidents

Don’t try to dodge every pothole or miss every piece of ignorant road kill

There ain’t no shoulder so we sure ain’t pullin away from the centerline

We’ll let things take care of themselves and figure it out when we get there

That is, theys blind curves up ahead but we’ll just take them as they come

Unlearned Lessons From That Great Recession

Don’t bring back no-income, no-job, no-asset, no money down home loans

Ban that so-called ‘financial engineering’ as a legalized but criminal profession

Never again make just the monthly minimum payment on multiple credit cards

Ensure that the oversized, noisy pickup truck totally disappears as a commuter vehicle

Don’t ever let the phony 7% real estate professional make any type of comeback

Stop buying those $150 shoes for kids who simply refuse to learn to read and write

No more of shrieking media heads pimping you tips to unknown stocks on margin

Forget that tens of smog-belching 3 ton roadhogs ever idled daily in drive-thru lines

Keep the crooked loan originators and greedy property appraisers unemployed

Don’t resume spending on diet aids that tell you it’s OK to eat anything you want

Push back hard when car salesmen try to reclaim their useless and parasitic positions

Let negative savings rates remain only as object lessons of our own stupidity

Don’t bring back giant, overpriced, shoddily-built McMansions leveraged by poseurs on margin

Never again spend $100 a month on fat-filled, sugary lattes, tossing away the cups

Really, let’s not pickup where we left off buying jet skis, OHVs and snowmobiles

Never pay loudly-ignorant, semi-skilled, so-called tradesmen to hold us hostage again

Make sure speculation on second home developments blocking access to open spaces remains dead

Forever keep buried the cynical and greedy lie that self-regulation is key to industry salvation

Waterboard the NeoCons on their own poisonous soundbites until they confess to anything

Don’t ever bring back the idea that your home is some investment instrument and an ATM

Don’t even consider more no-strings-attached cash bailouts to thieving financiers

Don’t return the nannies, chauffeurs, pedicurists and decorators to the faux-rich

Be sure smirking, callow Wall Street 20Somethings get no more million dollar bonuses

Never again roll credit card debt into an underemployed illiterate’s house note

Remain standing menacingly over the myth that loud and willful exceptionism equals patriotism

Don’t let the corn-based biofuel scam be resurrected by its well-heeled lobbyists

Never, never blindly trust the bankers, brokers, lawyers or financial advisers ever again

Kick down the self-serving lie that stocks yield the most over the so-called long haul

Archive house flipping how-to shows as evidence of the madness that possessed us all

Never again rush to overbid on unseen property before it even hits the market

Don’t roll old car leases into new ones even further underwater from the very start

Keep the hard-driving, career-oriented, equally-paid loving mothers needing time off, in their homes

Smother the absurd notion that vapid hyper-consumption is somehow really patriotic

Be sure that administrative assistants never again finance multiple rental properties

Don’t bring back those falsely-folksy, Ivy League politicians who favor the rich at your expense

Never again believe consumer spending and financial services could underpin a sustainable economy

Virga

Rain, especially from desert thunderstorms, which evaporates before ever reaching the ground

Gusty winds and far-off thunder

Drops which never quite strike this ground

Darkened the skies and it grew cooler

But the shower dried before it reached us

Struck out with all those good intentions

Mixed with the dust during my descent

Tumbled thru these wondrous skies

But never got to soak the earth

Held a promise to quench deep thirst

But could not even wet our lips

Brought us hopes of good moist soil

Yet only stirred the hopeless dust

Like some preacher or petty politician

assurance fading with the music

So deceivingly cool and dark and wet

Unreal as that lake mirage on desert road

A welcome sight for burning eyes

Left us wet, but with merest sweat

Blown out by unforgiving winds

Evaporate just beneath their thunderheads

So very appealing to the desiccated

So cruelly deceiving to the hopeful

Such wondrous promise at a distance

Dissolving into simple salt and disappointment

Sense Of Impending Doom

There’s this vise-like tightness growing in my chest when all I do is look around

Twilight’s lengthening shadows bring on a strong sense of my own impending doom

Maybe it’s the gray skies that just cant seem to brighten up all the mud and trash

Or it could be the endless pronouncements of wondrous new economic recovery initiatives

Then there’s this feeling like everybody’s running and I just can’t quite keep up

Seems like simply busting out in tears is appropriate at least once or twice a week

Even though my job seems pretty safe for now, the next round of layoffs still looms overhead

Once or twice a month it seems I wake up in the dark, drenched in a cold sweat

Doctor says that these new meds may take a while to reach their full effect

I surely hope so cause it feels like a lot of things are tightening up all around me

Maybe it’s cause I’m too old to hire, too young to retire and we’re still so far in debt

I just cant seem to get any air as I lay here in bed gasping like some tiny drowning fish

Feels like I’ve been squeezed into a corner that only leads to blind dead-ends

My savior’s not been as effective so I’m trying to turn up the power of prayer a notch

This awful burning that’s gnawing at my stomach speaks volumes, without a single word

Smog-darkened skies make sitting in endless lines of traffic just seem foolish and quite futile

Wise corporate leaders laying off thousands and defaulting on benefits fit neatly into my despair

Feels like the end of the carefree world that they advertised and helped us to finance

Can’t tell if that smell of fear is coming from the dark mall or the local feed lot

Just don’t have any matching ties that don’t cut off the circulation to my brain

There’s a numbness that’s spreading from my thoughts on out to my extremities

I’ve got this tingling sensation and my left arm feels as if it’s fast asleep

They say I’m just innocent detritus from the vast new global economies of scale

But there’s no way to avoid the simple conclusion that this just cannot continue

My ankles are swollen and my eyes are puffy and it’s really hard to get upstairs

A few drinks don’t bring the satisfaction that they always did, not so very long ago

I’m not seeing all the colors anymore or else everything is black or dirty gray

Feels like something quite sinister is flowing in silently from all sides at once

I’m subtly twisting everything I see to support these feelings of inevitable calamity

The dirty, littered streets all whisper to me of some ghastly approaching plague

Haunted eyes stare back at me from deep within the dark sockets of my own haggard face

Seems like the crows wait with ever more raucous impatience on something I do not see

The Sound Logic of Conservative Policies

This credit debacle far outweighs their cutesy fuzzy pipedreams of whatever sustainable living

These unemployment figures must push the real poor further into the gray background

Decreases in tax revenues force us to slash funds for even studying climate change

In this economic downturn the ecosystem simply must take a back seat to family welfare

The financial crisis leaves us without monies for these so-called superfund sites

We must pare social spending to the bone to preserve our military preparedness

Alas, educational funding must suffer given the collapse of the holy housing market

Real healthcare reform will remain on the back burner until consumer confidence returns

Cleaning up our waters takes a back seat to restoring mindless consumer spending

Energy independence can be shelved again thanks to fracking & a temporarily reduced demand

Burdensome impact reviews must be put on hold to help jumpstart the precious economy

Expensive emission control procedures can be waived until the recovery finally takes hold

This discretionary habitat restoration must cease until our families begin buying on credit again

Personal responsibility can wait while we bail out both irresponsible debtors and lenders

Clearly this is not the time for some expensive, lifestyle-based disease prevention program

We certainly cannot impose costly deposits on recyclable materials during this crisis

Requiring power companies to stop acid rain could push customers over the edge

Mandating energy efficiency for electronics could hurt slumping sales even more

Saving old growth forests must take a back seat to temporary jobs cutting timber for export

We cant stop illegal worker abuses without threatening businesses and raising costs

Protecting our soil must now take a back seat to curbing factory food price increases

Underwriting investment banking gambles trumps making higher education affordable

We wont be rushed into phony climate change fixes but this huge bailout must be fast-tracked

To fight this crisis, patriotic coal-fired power plants will be permitted near national parks

Limiting worker chemical exposure imposes undue costs on already-stressed industries

Ethical treatment of animals must take a backseat to affordable factory protein for our families

Calls for smart growth sound pretty silly given these current dire economic conditions

We must pump trillions to the bankers while cutting back on unproven childcare programs

Overseas atrocities and starvation are secondary to rebooting our own hyper-consumption

Right now, rugged conservative straight talk must override shrill liberal whining

We cannot embark upon squishy socialist programs lest we jeopardize a fragile recovery

Unlike the planetary ecosphere, our investment banks are too big to be allowed to fail

It would be insane to radically increase gas tax now to rebuild the failing transportation grid

Regulations can wait until the bailout money has re-lubricated the noble financial system

Habitat preservation is for the birds when good families are suffering economic hardship

Fairytale wacko concerns must take a backseat given our ongoing economic uncertainties

Makes Sense When You're Dreaming

It just all seems so logical and sensible inside this flawed dream we collectively weave

that’s why we need cluster bombs, land mines, new nukes and more chemical weapons

It’s all here before us in living breathing color every month of our maxed-out credit card lives

There are drugs for those who imagine that all this is crazy and can’t really last much longer

We waste and pollute, overcrowd and degrade, extract, poison and extinguish

For this we have rock solid reasoning layered on seamless and unassailable assumptions

From one bit of faith flows our vast river of well-constructed and inescapable dogma

Thusly can we ignore ancient wisdom and our starving brothers in an angry, righteous blindness

Bathed in a warm sea of religion, patriotism and family values we move about with ease

We readily expect third world sacrifice on behalf of our dreamy convenience

Groping sleepily with the blind hand of the free market in pursuit of individual happiness

We gladly pay more for disappearing resources which guarantees their final exploitation

The lights work and the water runs and the garbage gets hauled off somewhere every week

Verily do we perceive the unending natural cycle of our inalienable consumer lifestyle

There’s nothing out of context and the wackos are sensibly and seamlessly ignored

Our own professionals in neat suits have organized agendas tracking everything important

We readily explain away anything which disturbs the consistency of the revered central images

Thus, the multi-generational poverty and suffering of others is thoughtlessly tolerated

Just a couple of small basic distortions have increasingly warped our derived beliefs

And fat people drive oversize cars way too fast, wasting and emitting and calling it good

With but a subtle bending to enlightened self-interest and the pursuit of our happiness

We appoint the greediest, most amoral and self-serving as the masters of our universe

It just makes common sense in the dream which immerses everyone, all of the time

Together we direct all our efforts towards the foolish pipedream of eternal compound growth

It seems normal to live beyond our means, never save a penny, and still expect pensions

Nobody even questions shoving all the other life forms aside to abet our so-called progress

Our only true issues arise when we cannot obtain all the rich rewards of the collective fantasy

But even then, the shared dream in which we pursue these shiny baubles cannot be distorted

Yet, it takes a moment to ignore the rolled back, widened eyes seen often in the departing

It is as if, too late, they are roused from our dream to some nightmare that we will never see

Our Most Sacred Core Beliefs

Out of which arise our Traditional Family Values©

War is a basic and unchangeable part of human nature that will always be with us

You cant’ stop progress and that includes its unforeseen and destructive side effects

We must remain ready to preemptively defend ourselves or we will be attacked from all sides

Population growth is divinely ordained and no one may limit a family’s number of children

Human survival on the family scale trumps human survivability on the global level

Food and jobs must supercede preservation of the earth that supports them both

Trillions of selfish short-term, greed-optimized decisions blindly ensure our best future

Our god, no matter his name, is the one true god whom we must follow and defend to the death

The soulless animals may be tended, exterminated or ignored simply as we see fit

God works on his vaster projects in mysterious ways which we simply cannot grasp

This earthly life is but a short and illusory prelude to a far better and eternal paradise

His servants on this earth are here to help guide us along the path that He created

Merging mega-sized competitors produces many long-term benefits, not just fat bonuses

Hostility and aggression need our financial support but peace and harmony do not

We will always have to be preparing to fight to the death for a bit of simple peace

We hold as a matter of faith that our children will always have a rosier future than we

The poor are either lazy or suffering divine punishment and therefore, can be righteously ignored

Monomaniacal control freaks will use the power they grab only to help build a better society

Once safely out of our sight, our wastes need no longer be any of our concern, ever again

Air and water are free goods and trying to preserve them involves taxes not investments

Simply reacting to problems after they become serious is more effective than failed social planning

Living in wait for quickly-forgotten holidays leaves one with a rich set of remembrances

Corporations really do care about employees, customers, society and the environment

Focusing on next quarter’s results leads us all inevitably towards the happily ever after

Climate change is unproven but would be far too expensive and difficult to try and remedy

Overseas outsourcing clears the way for those new and better jobs for our displaced workers

Hindbrain reactionary muddling remains the best option for global problem solving

Stocks are safe investments which always outperform other instruments in the long run

Personal Responsibility is a viable strategy to deal with pensions and medical costs

The free market will address poverty, education, environmental and healthcare issues

Road, bridge, dam, sewer, power and water infrastructure outlays can be indefinitely postponed

An officially multi-lingual government provides egalitarian services and unites its people

God belongs in our government but the government does not belong in our businesses

Living life to its fullest means saving nothing as one consumes and discards freely, without saving

Mom is really quite happy at that place and the people all like her and really care about her

God’s will is quite naturally done here on earth just as it is in His eternal heaven

Bring On Them Libtards

Gonna whip some Snowflake ass!

Let’s see these skinny vegan dope smokers stand up to our smirking spin doctors

Yeah, come on you queer, yellow recyclers, just try and make us sort thru our garbage

Think you’ll make us pay 6 bucks a gallon to fill up our muscular diesel pickups?

Just step on out here and we’ll show you what these extra pounds can do to you

Try and make me eat that tough grass-fed beef and I’ll show you a thing or three

Come around here and I’ll hose you down with this stuff I spray on my kid’s lawn

Jest get in the road and I’ll dust your puny bicycle with my powerful Dodge Ram diesel

Which one of you don’t wanna bailout my maxed out credit cards and reset mortgage loan?

Your little friends don’t like my snowmobile, well, I say dammit, just bring em on

You’re against my OHV, step over here brother and I’ll wring your turkey neck

You want to take away my jet ski but I’m here to tell you what - I’ll fight for my rights

We’ll whip your green asses if you say we support terrorists with every tankful

They caint make us turn down our thermostats or turn off the stinkin lights and TV

We’ll proudly idle in the drive-thru line and eat bacon double cheeseburgers, all we please

We’re stayin with the NFL and NASCAR and you go shove that whatever World Cup

You keep your fuzzy research and we’ll stick with the true facts of Creation Science

We’ll take you to the mat for our right to cheap Chinese imports down to Wal*Mart

We’re pushin back hard on your bullshit about our overeating and never exercising

Let’s just chainsaw them trees they’re hugging with em still hanging up above

Push their girly faces down into the fat tire tracks we made in them useless, muddy wetlands

We’re gonna end this abortion murder and if need be, we’ll kill to get her done

We’ll impale them showy gays with pitchforks and burn them with our torches

Tired of pushy government women hangin up on us after theyre done tellin us what to do

Bring them sheetheads on over here and we’ll hunt them down fer varmint bounties

Just try and make us eat all like salads and we’ll punch out your pasty faces

We’re sick and tired of hearing about the evils of donuts and the glory of tofu

Hell yes, let’s drill everywhere sos we can drive around alone, making lots of noise

Ain’t ridin no buses, scooters are for kids and feck yer teeny-weenie lectric cars

No way we’re trying to touch our heads to our butts doin this bullshit, faggot yogi

Veggies and fruit may be OK fer kids but grownup men need good red meat with ever meal

Meditatin aint got nothing to do with jesus word my friend, so you can jest ferget it

You can have yer overpriced artesian loaves cause traditional families like soft white bread

Let’s stone their botoxed pushy feminist leaders down at the county fairgrounds, just fer fun

You think we fight wars of liberation just sos you can go socialize our healthcare system?

Won’t give up this struggle til they peel the remote out from my cold dead fingers

So bring em on and we’ll take em on here, just like we done over there in Whateverstan

Violent Macho Vegan Fantasies

Come on out from watching football and let’s settle this climate change issue right here

There’s a vegan birdwatcher been lifting weights who wants to break some NeoCon face

Gonna enjoy smashing your snow machine on behalf of all the vanished wildlife

Would be happy to fill your car with all that trash from those drive thru windows

Put down your stupid firearms and let’s settle this like the TV men you dream of being

Gonna smack you down for the frogs you 4WD’d over while smirking-drunkenly, smug and secure

Got a squishy liberal hammer fist for sending research and engineering overseas

Here’s a broken tooth for your overspending role in this ridiculous credit debacle

I’m a sissy treehugger, but I’ll gladly bury a palm strike in your fat and outsourced face

How about a bony elbow to your unused head or skinny knee in your fast food gut

I’m calling you out over what you’ve done to this country over the past 40 years

I’m a weak and yellow bicyclist trained hard enough to snap your overburdened joints

I’ll show you tough on fucking defense you wheezing, red-faced, HamAndEggers

Bring it on and we’ll film liberal greenies tattooing your tired-out, freedom-loving asses

Putting you on notice that machoism can survive on organic salads and soy milk

Here’s a hard left hand for the channelized and poisoned rivers you leave behind

Let’s do this in a peaceful meadow that your smoking bulldozers have not found as of yet

I’ll quietly meditate and sip green tea as they carry you off after I finish your beating

You can review your mistakes with your personal savior during the ambulance ride

So, yeah, the Bushido Zen Way is not incompatible with a peace-loving heart

Been practicing chokes and armbars just for you while I was hugging all them trees

This peacenik calls you to go mano a mano over your standalone cowboy foreign policy

While you’re on your back, gonna put quiet mufflers on your moronic pickup

You’re gonna go back to the earth with me to enjoy some good old ground and pound

This proponent of universal healthcare wants to ensure you a safe and free trip to the ER

I’ll enjoy a fruit smoothie after I am de-con’d of all the bloody sweat from your fat body

Gonna Visualize World Peace as I knee your piggish face from a tight Mui Tai clinch

Step down out of those oversize pickups so I can knock the Budweiser right out of you

Wackos are gonna bitch slap you until you whine like your fat, spoiled and stupid wives

Socialist flag-burning recyclers will punish jet ski riders from full mount position

A meditating observer longs to slam a real patriot into the cage just to feel his pain

Gonna pay you back with elbows for letting them ruin our standing with the whole world

Callin you out for a beating on behalf of the lakes whose fish you have tainted

Taking you down hard for stripmining mother ocean and waltzing off with the cash

Here’s a vicious combination for the tortured cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys and sheep

Gonna whup yer ignerant, selfish polluting asses and force feed you nuts, tofu and sprouts

Junkyard Tripping

Took a trip out to our dump when a hot dry wind was blowing hard

Could see that funny yellow dust in the air well before we got there

Bulldozers and giant aerators stirred up a foul, freshly amalgamated scent

Brown and lumpy liquids leaked from below where we tossed away our stuff

Sun baked junkyard men smoked cigarettes and joked about their health

The county dump is on a hillside above a Western river on its way to California

There’s a posted list of prohibited items but no one checks your stuff

There’s laws about sanitary disposal but the county’s out of money

So we got a concentrated plume of an evil witch’s brew not too far from home

A small price the earth that god so loved must pay for our ordained presence here

Well, that smell gave me a headache so I guess that I’m still not a real man

In fact it was slightly lingering in my nose til late into the morning after

But I wasn’t all like tongue-clucking, finger-pointing and exposing some great sin

It was just the stuff that you and me don’t want sitting around our family homes

All tossed into a toxic grimy blot not suited for the pregnant or might become so

An accepted, respected and budgeted part of this small and rustic community

But I saw things there I could not be part of as my eyes filled with its bitter dust

I could not merge this place into my vision of our happy family way of life

There were no picnic tables or benches beneath the trees that could never grow here

Children would not be romping among the twisted metal coated with corrosives

There was however no escaping that this place is an integral part of our home

A place where our multi-chemical legacy returns to the surrounding ecosystem

Out-of-sight, downwind and downstream is just the best that we can do for temporary

This is the spot where all the other cleanups go, never meant to be cleaned up

It’s just a giant compost heap for toxic waste, garden varieties of trash & all manner of recyclables

A place where plastic is smashed into tiny pieces without ever breaking down

Where dirty oil, old paint and mild insecticides all mix and blend and start to flow

Yeah, food remains and old clothes get stirred with brake fluid and shrink wrap

There are rich veins of jumbled aluminum and glass we chose not to reuse

But all that tossed out paper soaks up a lot of the nasty liquids and stays in place

The tree limbs and grass clippings and rotting food produce flammable methane underneath

Hope our kids don’t have to mine this before it dries out and the smell goes away

Reinventing Ourselves For The Good New Jobs

You Could Be...

Programmers are bending themselves into grocery clerks going forward

So-called financial engineers should be snatching at secure jobs driving school buses

Web designers are strutting in their natty fast food uniforms

Physics graduates optimize sweeping patterns in their work as custodians

Shy mathematicians are re-inventing themselves as stockers down to Wal*Mart

Unneeded chemists are scheming to open up their own new brew pubs

Moping, unemployed newspaper writers futilely send their signal into the blogospheric void

Graying, downsized middle managers pass out identical resumes on every corner

Washed up autoworkers line up for full-time positions driving garbage trucks

Former roofers and framers look to re-invent themselves installing solar panels

Downcast Teamster container ship unloaders will become produce clerks, someday

With straight faces, liberal arts grads try to get hired on to redneck road-building crews

Quality assurance experts audit their own work cleaning toilets in convenience stores

Unemployed statisticians calculate their odds for success at professional blackjack

Burnt out, washed up teachers with no alternate careers shut down, but stay on

All those 45 and older are quickly cast aside and wordlessly encouraged just to die

Financial planners are now without the income streams needed to smother their own debt

Database administrators finally try to use their hands while studying to be paramedics

Laid off PR goddesses become consultants to other useless baggage trying to reinvent itself

Overextended real estate profiteers look for big scores in pyramid fat-burning scams

Unread resumes clog vast networks of pathetically over-eager former executives

Hapless retail attempts by entrepreneurial laid-off accountants die in record time

Ex-project leaders learn to live with being laughed at by fellow Home Depot stockers

Run down car salesmen start peddling reverse equity home scams to seniors

Cast off nannies make the long trek back to Guatemala without a dime of severance pay

Mestizo vaqueros in dusty baseball caps find no more labor and shuffle back towards home

Merged and downsized bankers cynically scheme to make it as credit counselors

Environmental activists try to get on with coal companies as public spokesmen

Moving firms reinvent themselves emptying abandoned, foreclosed McMansions

300 pencil-necked ex-loan originators apply for a single firefighting position

100000 returning war vets are laid off just as soon as permitted by federal law

Cute former cosmetic sales girls learn to turn a few tricks for rent and food

Stock brokers feverishly search the internet for another golden egg of greed

Soccer moms are forced to morph into gas clerks in oversized checkered shirts

Off-shored Customer Support personnel enjoy painting houses and mowing lawns

But, at last, those bottom-feeding military and priesthood recruiters gin up a few new bodies