Rude Awakening

They don’t care about you
I’m sorry, it’s true
Your ‘leaders’ are puppets
Controlled by a few

They don’t care what you think
You’re kept on the brink
Too busy surviving
To make a big stink

They don’t care if you’re poor
They keep taking more
And sneer at your stupor
Then laugh as you snore

We must make them care
And show we’re aware
It's time to get noisy
They need a good scare!

Free Your Mind

C’mon now can’t you see
That we were meant to be
Freer than what we are

Why should we live in chains
So we can post our gains
Or buy a brand new car

Oh you got to free your mind
Oh leave this world behind

They try to sell you joy
With every useless toy
Don’t be fooled my friend

Only take what you need
Never give in to greed
For it will be your end

Oh you got to free your mind
Oh leave this world behind

Continuance

The fireflies keep flashing
Like little LEDs
That float about unfettered
On the cool summer breeze
The sun has just descended
And colors streak the sky
As another day has ended
In this epic quest for Why?

Ephemeral

Every moment that you try
To kill takes twice as long to die
Despite the fact that time's a lie

It really is a perplexing fix
The way we measure, mark and mix
Most everything by phantom ticks.

Scorcher

Did we gain a year or two
because we live behind
the row of indigenous trees that grew
so perfectly aligned?
I guess we’re doomed to find

out just how long the shade will last
when the sun gets hotter still
and burning leaves fall off so fast
we can’t avoid the spill
Of radiance that will fulfill

Chastisement for the wrath we stirred
In He who breathed the living word.

Commotion

The clattering contraptions created by the cult
Of carbon exploitation just add to the tumult
They’re hoping will distract us until it’s much too late
And our carcasses are carted to catacombs that wait.

Reveal

Those who think they know the most
(They tell us so with every post)
Don’t even have a single clue
About the proper thing to do

Like everything we see and hear
This latest flap just breeds more fear
Yet screechers that are so distraught
Would null your rights without a thought

To scream for death upon demand
Is something I can’t understand
Those who’d have a heartbeat stilled
Aren’t as caring as billed.

Concordance

What did you do for your neighbor today
What did you think, what did you say
When you observed them come and go
Did you simply mutter So?
Or did you wish them well—
Love can change the way you dwell.

Miscue

The anchors feign surprise
As prices start to rise
Secretly delighted
That the drama they devise
Distracts us from the lies

The stories that they air
Designed to fuel despair
Keep us all gaslighted
As they proclaim they’re fair
And just how much they care

Tone Deaf

Embracing new seasons with song
The solstice was singing along
As light dominated the sky
The crickets and bullfrogs weren’t shy
Rejoicing in sweet harmony
Unlike all the mind slaves I see
Who never detect when they’re wrong
And I can’t help but wonder why
We struggle to find the same key.

Venal

There’s no one you can rouse
That wants to be awake
And none who see their vows
As something they can’t break

How many view integrity
As a virtue to uphold?
Too few because their loyalty
Is nonchalantly sold.

Receding

When I was younger I sneered
At the specter that neared
So wrinkled and gray and yes, hairy-eared
But things have really gotten weird
Ten times worse than I feared
It seems that my chin has disappeared.

Rampage

A big old brutish blue-haired beast
Is steadily stomping towards the east
In search of facts on which to feast

Don’t dare debunk her lies with math
In fact, don’t even cross her path
Or you will earn her righteous wrath.

Healthy

I bite my vitamin gummy
And crack my tooth in half
I feel like such a dummy
Then shake my head and laugh.

Teacher

An idealistic realist
Keeps striving for the best
While knowing it takes more than hope
To make it through the test

The pessimistic narcissist
Is never far behind
Demanding everyone adhere
To dictates they’ve designed

An altruistic wanderer
Showed us all how to be
A humble and forgiving sort
That loves humanity.

Testify

From a tiny seed
A tree may sprout
Or a brooding copse of doubt
And if you bleed
From every bout
It’s time to toss the towel out
But when you’re freed
Don’t ever pout
Say thank you with each joyful shout.

Muted

Keep talking shit
I’ll laugh (and how)
Your life is one big flub

My tongue was bit
So often, now
There’s just a bloody nub.

Snoozer

People seldom choose to wisely take
Advantage of each second they’re awake
And stumble through this life as though asleep
Until they meet the one condemned to reap.

Elusive

Eleven Eleven
An ominous sign
Or simply a tick
When the digits align

Or maybe a tock
In the arcane design
I'd say your guess
Is as good as mine.

Divided

I really love math
But I hate this equation
That triples my wrath
And doubles frustration
Sometimes I wish I was dumb
So I didn’t know one was the sum.

In(toxic)ant

He ran out of liquor
And felt kind of lost
Until a brief flicker
In eyes that were glossed
Said Damn the cost

He drank down some coolant
And now he’s on ice
I don’t think the fool meant
To pay such a price
For petty vice.

Just the Ticket

Does going 50
On a 20 mile-per-hour street
Take big balls
Or just big feet?

Regeneration

The limb is slowly dying
There’s no shying from the truth
Just like there's no relying
On the vigor of our youth

Our time to bloom is fleeting
Belay bleating when the fruit
Is rapidly retreating
And the branch is destitute

Embrace each chance to savor
All the flavor and the pulp
A fruitful feast will favor
People more inclined to gulp

And any seeds worth sowing
Should be going in the ground
So nurtured vessels growing
Have new fruits to be found.

Prepped

I blinked my eye
A decade went by
And now you’re a bright young guy

It’s so bittersweet
My role seems complete
I hope I prepared you, whatever you meet.

Appearance

She asks a doting aide
“You sure I look okay?”
Concerned about how she’s portrayed
Not what she has to say
They’re not her words anyway

She’s sticking to the script
Her masters have supplied
With plastic face so tucked and nipped
It’s not that hard to hide
The fear she feels inside

That someone will see through
The unrepentant sham
Which seems to mollify the crew
That only gives a damn
When triggered by the scam.

Nowhere

The faker you are
The farther you go
Which isn’t that far
Because it’s all show

So puff up those lips
Then glue on some hair
Inject new hips
And baby you’re there.

Constitutional

Little yellow flowers (each one smaller than a pea)
Gild the hill before me with their golden finery
The breeze is crisp, the sun is warm, the sky blue as can be
And for this moment (it seems at least) that I am truly free.

Absorbency

I thought you had a brain
But it seems you sent it out
So they could bleach the stain
Of good old fashioned doubt
And once it has been scrubbed away
You’re free to suck up whatever they say.

Medicine

There is no pill
To obliterate
The urge to kill
Or blindly hate
(Their favorite skill)

And who is They
You may inquire
The curs we pay
That soon conspire
To take away

Every right
With which we’re born
You know I’m right
You’ve felt the scorn
It’s time to fight!

Battle of Samara

With sturdy blades spinning around
They gracefully twirl through the air
And every branch contributes
Battalions of recruits—
The hueys are hitting the ground
Beneath the maple, everywhere.