Not Poetry. Quatrain Verse in English & Swedish. Dagsverser. On the Mundane & the Arcane.
Outlook darkly fossiliferous
of restraint we’re belligerent
In our pursuits carboniferous
of the future indifferent
No mere hubristic vanity
this despairing dissonance
but ’round the bend’ insanity
from which no deliverance!
While Icarus just didn’t watch the wax
we’re giving our whole species the axe
+)
Icarus = the classical hubris poster boy
I’m not fearing to tread
as My Very Own Celeb!
Won’t fail to get ahead
soon gone viral on the web!
Never mind solidarity
must star in My Own Story
Forging on with temerity
I deserve all the glory!
Leaving politics to the Elite
affords time to stuff my own shed
So what that usurious Wall Street
if helps me feather my own bed?
For I won’t hesitate at the gate
of the Only Life Worth Living!
Must not let my beguilement abate
which would turn out unforgiving
Watch me take aim
ready in crisp dress
to claim my fame
a chunk of success!
Hey, Nose on Screen, waiting to chew
check this nifty ‘winglet’ thing!
They are rarely more than just two
one at the tip of each wing.
Whether of much use those winglets
or the plane a sleek cygnet
whether most pilots wear singlets
or air travel mere figment:
Still heart & soul of air travel
seems the ‘wheeled larder’? Take heart!
No risk in sky to unravel
for here rolls the service cart:
Heavenward passengers scoot!
Of winglets, who gives a hoot?
+)
-winglets = small angled wing tip extensions which provide extra lift, reduce drag & fuel consumption (somewhat)
Is anything found too cloying
these nifty days at all, such
as being outright annoying
or revoltingly too much?
Do they keep grabbing ever more
no longer knowing surfeit?
Is ‘missing out’ what they abhor
fearing that they might forfeit?
So let’s ignore their piercing plaint
following each indulgence
as it’s only through calm restraint
one shall assure abundance
+)
restraint = here: voluntarily restraint
On raids ever niggling
yet again out on foray
ever jolted, wriggling
heading out among moray
Chasing for conveniency
in hoopla unrestrained
granted full leniency
to live lives entertained
You contentious consumer
on shopping paths hallow
doggedly without humor
distracted, stuck callow
You captives of rushing clatter
paying heed to ads’ slick flatter
+)
-moray = family of brightly colored voracious eels, dangerous if provoked; here: ambitious consumers dangerous if impeded
Just keep cavorting, gushing
why should anyone blush?
Over obstacles rushing
evading Death’s near brush
Time is such a rigid knave
flows without adjournment
continuity’s mere slave
knows not of discernment
“Saving time through efficiency
watch me, watch me, always I’m!”
Then wasted in proficiency
by rush to save yet more time
Thence such time by rushing saved
gets squandered & wasted
While the moment rarely craved
barely sensed or tasted …
Hooked on voraciously soul sucking screens
in their eerie sheen ubiquitous
Been had by corporate marketing schemes
To celeb culture obsequious
No flirtation. Hit hard on
by forces hellacious
in consumer-tech’s brash con
its pursuits vexatious
Our culture predaceous, duplicitous
a future crashing in crassitude
in a society iniquitous
we languish feebly in lassitude
Been trading snug solidarity
for barbed & smug insularity
Indulge fantasy, discard reason!
Rich times in planet plundering
our Species’ finest fracking season:
Boundless bludgeoning, blundering
Greed brought upon us final defeat
raiding, rustling & ransacking
Soon no livable ground at our feet
as planet sending us packing!
Who but our own sweet Humankind
shall leave so much garbage behind?
Our faces turning craggy
Synapses misfiring
Jowls & butts sinking saggy
Worn thinly brain’s wiring
Daily routines found conspiring
full of setbacks & wrinkles
New challenges cause perspiring
Long since we felt goose pimples
Civility sorely lagging
Screeched promotions propitious
abound posturing & bragging
pitches puffed-up, suspicious
No punishment but reward
when in old age we’re ignored
+)
-propitious = indicative of favor; presenting favorable circumstances
-wrinkle = a trick or dodge; crease in the skin
Show us all we can grab
how to get our way
as we prefer to nab
not give or allay!
Thus abet
rather than care
just forget
what’s like to share
Have now learned to manage
(spurred on by own greed)
taking full advantage
of those in dire need
Indulgent we’re beaming
finest wines we swill
lounged amidst stuff gleaming
huge thick steaks we grill
But aboard in yachting delight
cruising in the starlit night
cradled in self-absorbed birthright
oughtn’t our collars feel bit tight?
+)
-collars feel bit tight = here: feeling a strain of anxiety about whether we’re steering a compassionate course on life’s ocean