The Philistine not only ignores all conditions of life which are not his own but also demands that the rest of mankind should fashion its mode of existence after his own.” – Goethe.
Straight faced the Philistine advises:
“Won’t stick my neck in guillotine!”
Instead he declares, no surprises:
“Like my butt in a limousine!”
No use for intrigues Byzantine
or time for Sistine Chapel
(or the fifteen or seventeen)
Prefers fries to an apple
As always by strong insistence
he brooks no interference
Perplexing perverse persistence
in painful perseverance
He’s always certain
though rarely right
How thick his curtain
and drawn too tight!
Twisted like acrobatic acts
to engineer outcomes perverted
opinions offered up as facts
then glibly, haughtily asserted
On recklessness binged
in forward pose
pours on claims unhinged
anything goes!
These days seem veracity
as well as morality
eclipsed by mendacity
in foam bath banality
In times erstwhile weren’t we restrained
by facts as being impregnable?
Perhaps too old to be retrained
for when few norms are detectable
Now floating away dazzled
from Reality’s shores
we’re too creaky & frazzled
to keep pulling the oars
Thus on waves of distraction we’re drifting
when did we last do something uplifting?
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facts = “Factual evidence, since it is an impediment to what we desire, is banished” – Chris Hedges
edited 08/15/24 1730