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