Not Poetry. Quatrain Verse in English & Swedish. Dagsverser. On the Mundane & the Arcane.
When to others’ hardship resistant
aren’t we failing in compassion
when just on own comfort insistent
ain’t our empathy on ration?
Our eyes glazed, as fear we smell
we act disdainfully
of all those faring less well
rather than humanely
Thus we dismiss them indignantly
while blaming others malignantly
We ‘commune’ by bumper stickers
and by thought-ending cliches
Feebly democracy flickers
in such debased a malaise
Ever sillier, who’d thought?
Uninformed we get out of sync
society’s bonds worn fraught
Civil discourse gone down the sink
Now in anomie mired
entertained on apps agile
In fantasy conspired
reality’s grip fragile
But what a way to go
when wishing not to know!
To logic & hard facts
I’m recalcitrant
They may hinder my acts
when I gallivant
When finding pliable ‘facts’
I’m thus salivating
as they justify my acts
Aptly stimulating!
Civil or in brawl
I’m the victim
Watch me whine & bawl
here’s my dictum:
Between ‘wants’ & ‘needs’ little daylight
Furthermore I ain’t contrite, all right?
Are we rushing headlong
hearing no birdsong
all unmindful days long
until sounds swan song?
Entitled like baby boomer?
Whining like left waiting dog?
Offended like gypped consumer?
Fawning like corporate cog?
I’d rather live present & cheerfully
than elbowing airily sneerfully!
After having captured Government
Big Business criminogenic
in stealthy coup of empowerment
ethics withered cryogenic
Erstwhile Earnest Citizen
turned Craven Consumer
Now Fantasy’s Denizen
selfish in ill humor
So now we’ve been trumped
back to Poor Serfs bumped
+)
-serf = here: a person doing undignified work at a callous corporation paid far less than his or her contribution to productivity
Winter rages bleak & cold
then merely click ‘unfriend’!
For Spring soon to burgeon bold
just click ‘like’ to impend!
Climate change talk we won’t brook
cannot by hoodwinked eye be seen
It lacks button on Facebook
anywhere in front of our screen!
What’s Fantasy and what’s Reality
long since blurred in Mainstream Media
Drenched in torrents of triviality
by enablers of Acedia
Unbeknownst benighted
watch us grin shortsighted
+)
-acedia = not caring or not being concerned with one’s position or condition in the world
Word ‘complicated’ is in fashion
hence lacking in restrain & ration
When someone says: “Hi, my name is Matt!
What’s yours?” Don’t feel obligated
say: “Can I get back to you on that?
it’s (majorly) complicated!”
That’s how to ace the coolest phrases
among those faddy fleeting crazes
Nation’s strength faded
politics corroding
consumers jaded
Deny it’s imploding
While ‘debate’ mired mindless
still roars contentious
in pervasive blandness
madly pretentious
Clinging to the Empire notion
slapping on more burnout lotion
While the grass is thought to be greener
on the other side of the fence
the barking dog there may be meaner
How do such fantasies make sense?
The Human Race is in dire distress
because we constantly want more
Always way too willing to aggress
so we can further up our score
Mired in constant complaint
as we know not constraint
Words swooping in screeching flocks
on rash repeated raids
whether aiming to flummox
darting out from deep shades
May seem fetching while hollow
coming across inane
Glib, quick, too hard to follow
they know not of restrain
Verbiage self-promotional
insincerely emotional