The homeless sit
on unrelenting streets
cardboard signs
advertising need.
Passersby seldom notice
the invisable men
hulking on concrete nests.
The pace of life
changes incrementally.
the more we advance technically
the faster it moves.
In the middle ages
we knew how to make candles
and we had light,
dim perhaps,
but it banished darkness.
In the Information Age
we tell the A.I.
to put on the light,
without the faintest idea
how light works.
In another generation
we will be so advanced
that we ask A.I. for everything,
make nothing,
so when collapse occurs
we will be helpless
to prevent the fall.
I walk decaying streets
of a crumbling city
submerging slowly
from the weight of wealth
crushing the superfluous
who do not serve the 1%.
Ghost shops everywhere
have signs ‘for rent’,
as small business people
can no longer afford
excessive rents, on-line competition
for goods and services.
In a caring society
there would be help
for the homeless,
the poverty population,
the struggling working class,
who do their duty
that sustains the system
with jobs, taxes, trade.
Instead, new buildings for the rich
devour fragile greenery,
until Mother Nature gasps for breath
future respiration in doubt.
The American Empire,
though we never called it that,
reached its peak
at the end of World War II
when we occupied
much of the world,
influenced the rest,
a military and industrial titan,
so strong, yet we needed an enemy
to keep the empire on a war footing,
to maintain sway as the dollar ruled.
Then the oligarchs decided
their interests didn’t coincide
with the needs
of the American people.
They amassed more and more wealth,
spread it across the globe
and they were international.
They outsourced, downsized,
went offshore, hired robots,
anything for more profit.
And as the sinews of the nation,
the blue collar class
began to disappear,
we stopped making things
and bought from abroad,
which didn’t benefit the people.
Then the melting pot cracked
and no one assimilated.
Divisiveness grew rampant
and our President
fueled the flames of dissension.
Compromise evaporated.
We stand on the precipice
of fatal collapse.
and are no longer sure
if we can heal our wounds,
survive endemic decay,
fostered by the uncaring rich.
A child speaks to the world
about the threats of climate change.
President Trump mocks her.
The Treasury Secretary,
Trump’s satellite,
a sterile bean counter,
insults her.
Other voices of ignorance
deride her.
She asks not for herself,
but for our only habitat
and its survival.
The madness we inflict
on our wounded environment
is further revealed
as so many scorn
the voice of a child,
crying in the wilderness.
The first day of Fall,
another seasonal change.
Yet the day feels like summer.
People walk the city streets
in short sleeve shirts,
most of us oblivious
to the threats of war,
Iran, China, Tau Ceti,
whoever can be used
to manipulate the people
that war always distracts
from the wrongdoing
of the owners of the country,
completely unconcerned
with the well-being
of the rest of us,
who go about our business
on a bright, sunny day
while we’re being betrayed.
All the Billionaires
should each give five million dollars
to set up a foundation
that will provide housing,
support services
to homeless families with children,
homeless veterans,
so those who served the nation,
innocent children
will be saved
from needless suffering.
The wealthy squander resources
in the pursuit of status,
building enormous mansions
striving to outdo their peers,
buying extravagant mega-yachts,
bigger, with more amenities
than their rivals,
so possessed by wanting
they have lost sight
of simple virtues.
In the 1920s
after the disaster of World War I,
the German people were desperate
and while the wealthy
and well-to-do reveled,
the poor and needy seethed
with rage and frustration.
Fascist rallies
and extravagant promises
persuaded many to support
National Socialism
that vowed to revive Germany,
that led to
World War II,
the Holocaust.
If there are parallels today
with propaganda rallies,
pledges of imprisonment for some
and abuse of power
approved by many,
we can only hope
for a historical coincidence.
We go from home to work,
school, shop, recreate
without recognizing
the terrible peril
that faces our land.
We have become urbanized,
easy to control,
totally dependent
on power, food supply, water,
easily discontinued
leaving us helpless,
existence improbable
except for small groups
outside the cities
now become death traps
for millions,
who cannot survive
without the necessities
that allow continuation.
Unillumined, an unpublished collection that looks at problems, issues, and disagreements facing our world and some of the things that may console us.