I Perished Beneath Progress

I suffocated beneath a billion plastic shopping bags each barely used but once

I failed to crawl my way out from under tons of rotten half-eaten convenience foods

I was found buried beneath an avalanche of good, reusable cardboard we had tossed aside

The mere idling of their many vehicles proved enough to totally blacken my lungs

I died from a million tiny cuts caused by all the perfectly good glass we had thrown away

I was carried off by the flood of petroleum, mindlessly burned for no real reason

Advertising jingles collided noisily in my head as I tried earnestly to pray for my soul

I was crushed beneath mountains of worthless and dead corporate factory fishery bycatch

I lay flattened and compressed under fresh concrete, right along with the dying soil

They gave myself and other dissidents free housing: next to their coal-fired power plants

I was borne off with rich sediment as the mountain glaciers melted into blowing dust

I drifted up with the smoke from the last firewood burned to boil their drinking water

They brought bad jobs and ruined our lives with their wasted dream vacation resorts

I was scalded horribly before drowning in the spreading floods of their black asphalt

I stood no chance as monstrous yellow machinery pierced and gouged my unprotected flesh

I perished from the shock of all the electricity that was simply being wasted

I was quietly covered by silt far below the surface at the base of their marvelous dams

I passed out, unaware of the hypoxically-poisonous nature of their slick propaganda

I was but one of uncounted millions who perished in the resource wars caused by overpopulation

Their high-speed tires spread me into a shiny stain on the smooth concrete pavement

I was buried with free-market lead in my brain and Clean Coal mercury in my tissues

I failed in my struggle to make it to the air above a sea of cast-off plastic containers

Nobody found my tiny newborn body inside a milk carton in a convenience store dumpster

I passed away beneath the excessive marching feet of the far beyond sustainable

I slowly decomposed along with vast forests of discarded paper we found no use for

Their screaming sonar destroyed my guidance system as we fled, full of industrial toxins

I drowned with a polar bear searching for ice floes long melted in this new warm age

I disappeared from migration routes traced through the web of life for a million years

Drying with the virgal rain, I never reached the parched earth, so very far below

I flowed lifeless along with dirty runoff into channelized rivers to help enlarge ocean dead spots

I withered beside the plants which could not migrate away from the increasing heat

I perished of amnesia after my identity was stolen by some worm-filled spam

Our imports fell apart quickly and lay in useless heaps by their abandoned strip malls

I was sent to Africa with the castoff Chinese clothing even thrift stores could not sell

I was body-bagged as the regrettably-unavoidable collateral damage of inevitable globalization

I thinned to the density of outer space with all the rest of their thoughts and beliefs 

Never Even Dreamed We Were So Clueless

How was I to foresee they would suddenly outsource my position to 4 third-worlders?

We could not have known that there was not enough water for us all, out here in Las Vegas

Never knew how fragile that Big Oil teat we all loved so dearly really was

Had no idea our homes would not be free ATMs for all the rest of everybody’s lives

Were so surprised that our financial industry created the credit mess that ruined us

Shocked that our special kids would not lead the world, much less find decent jobs

Could not imagine ourselves as profitable examples of energy usage and innovation

Did not realize the wasteful habits that I thought saved me time did not pay off at all, in the end

Ignored those irrelevant foreigners moving in other directions, leaving us far behind

Never even dreamed that retirement would become such a quaint and bygone concept

Consternated to find it so expensive to leave the big screen plugged in 24 hours every day

Surprised to be deciding between the mortgage, groceries, heating and health care

Could not possibly have grasped our utter dependence on Chinese goods for our very lives

Did not expect to see poor families living in giant SUVs that would never run again

Was stunned when a leader finally said we might need to do more while using less

Flabbergasted as the roads became impassible, dams broke and bridges were declared unsafe

How could I have foreseen myself unemployable, uninsured and without any savings at 50?

Why would I have ever worried about what they called this junk science of climate change?

Never even thought a negative savings rate might not be proper for His chosen people

Did not conceive that I’d ever see kids picking through dumps for what I had thrown away

Not even wackos mentioned we should treat domestic animals with the golden rule

Shocked to find there were no more jobs that I could not even afford to commute to

Certainly never thought My family had a hand in some vast, mass extinction of the seas

How were we supposed to know that such cheerful lawn products poisoned our drinking water?

Mighty surprised to learn how much oil all those disposable plastic bags had cost us

Could never have foreseen that my lifestyle would have caused me all these diseases

Did not think once that the boys really should have learned to read and to do the math

Why should I have worried about overpopulation when God had told us to just go on forth?

Never even dreamed I wouldn’t be laughing at them treehuggerss driving teeny cars

Got caught flatfooted when I couldn’t get another home equity loan to go on vacation again

I had never even considered I could not afford to dine out for lunch, 3 times a week

Always took it for granted that defense and healthcare would cost a lot more every year

Surely, I could not have predicted we would run out of credit and petroleum both at once

Never could have dreamed consumer spending would stop being the cure-all for all our economic ills

Didn’t cross my mind how much they planned to charge me for a simple death with dignity

How would I have known I was just hearing voices when I thought I was talking to my savior?

Take Your Conservative Values...With You

You can mount your fat and loud Harley while I slide on my sleekly whining rice burner

Go climb up in your 300 horsepower crossover while I slip into my hi-tech hybrid

Blare some Fox Republican Radio as I privately tune into NPR

Have yourself a double cheese burger and I’ll hit the Health Foods salad bar

Get into the institutional weekend football game as we watch MMA on weeknights

Fire up your brand new ATV and wail past our slow hiking into the wilderness

Turn up the satellite country music as we listen to new downloads in our earbuds

Suck down that read meat and potatoes while we prepare some spicy Thai food

Go chase some elk on your smoking snowmobiles as we listen for the cold silence

Pay lots to make your pickup a lot louder and roar on past me as I commute on my bicycle

Put your everlasting faith in the bible and I’ll support evolution until the evidence changes

Stand up against the environmental wackos while we quietly evolve our new lifestyle

Keep supporting unaffordable free-market medicine as we ask for universal healthcare

Just keep focusing only on the democrats as new, different parties emerge at last

Reiterate the importance of abortion and I’ll keep talking about climate change

Talk about the sanctity of marriage as I try and require an exam to have children

Knee-jerkingly approve defense increases as we join hands in search of peace

Adopt the arrogantly-smirking Texas lifestyle as we look to folks in Europe for consolation

Laugh about your extra pounds while joking sarcastically about us, as we are walking by

Put your money in clothes, cars and vacations and we’ll retire 15 years before you

Take your processed red meats and pass the un-drugged, free-range chicken, please

Dwell in the faux luxury of your McMansions as we downsize in comfort far away

Get hypnotized by corporate soundbites while we deep dive the details on the internet

Roar across the waters drunk and shouting hoarsely as we quietly paddle and just observe

Listen as your media leaders pigeonhole us and ignore our independent consensus

Worship your rigged free markets and leave us to fair trade sustainability

Point to your golf course ponds and fight our suit to halt your wetland progress

Have some super-sweetened cereal and take your laxative instead of eating real fiber, stupid

Kill a tree for Christmas and get our re-gifted items in your own recycled wrapping paper

Adjust your thermostats for comfort in the fight against our foolish global warming hoax

Have illegales manicure your artificial lawns and laugh at our pitiable xeriscape

Leave all your electronics on all the time as we compete to use the fewest watts

Make your living fast-talk-pimping real estate while leaving the engineering to us

Destroy their future to get rich quick as we scramble to sustain ourselves in your dirty wake

Send your many discards to the landfills where we foresee your children subsisting

Take your sad and comical, old-timey heaven and leave us the certainty of the eternal void

I Streaked So Very Briefly

I grew as clean and polished as the perfect desert sandstone

I spun peacefully in an eddy though strong currents tossed all around me

I tumbled with the words from your lips as you mumbled a goodbye

I orbited the earth just fast enough to remain perpetually in the light of dawn

I was lofted somewhere far away, into the golden West upon the prevailing winds

I scattered with the leaves during a few crisp autumns long, long ago

I faded into one or more of those amazing painted sunsets

I was bent by gravity around celestial bodies along with other ancient photons

I rolled up on the beach with many a perfect swell

I twirled slowly to the ground with the fragile apple blossoms

I streaked briefly across the summer sky with a shooting star

I crashed through many canyons in roaring youthful streams

I refracted from the peak along with a billion ice crystals

I ground out the valley, nosed along by a patient glacier

I bathed the room with a streak of brief and pale moonlight

I rose in the air as a life-giving mist after plunging down the gaping cataract

I was taken up by the slanting sunshine and fell again as a gentle rain

I flourished in the ancient forests and then was compressed into a coal seam

I rained slowly down with other fine detritus from the far off surface of the sea

I fell with the million snowflakes as we silently covered the vast boreal forest

I welled up with vital nutrients in the icy water just off the pacific coast

I left questions carved in random patterns upon many jumbled boulders

I faded away in proportion to the increasing heat and the longer droughts

I played my subtle variations on a theme brought to life by a tiny creek

I streaked briefly full of avian color in the blue above a clearing rain forest canopy

I flashed a shining migrating side, momentarily breaking the surface of that great river

I helped form those fantastic images that filled the skies among the holy clouds

I went down in muddy sediment leaving behind baffling, petrified remains

I sighed with the wind in the big trees standing arms akimbo for a thousand years

I fused my atoms with all the others at the center of many suns

I formed mystic patterns of electromagnetic radiation they called the aurora borealis

I raced across the ocean with a pod of warm-blooded giant bluefin tuna

I bathed peacefully in the light of a billion healing springtimes

I disappeared across the event horizon of that black hole at the center of our Milky Way

I spun with the earth about the sun around the galaxy tracing far across but one universe

I left my carcass to the wolves and crows, and my soul to father sun

Lust For Life, American Style

They said to stop and smell the roses so we cut em all and then forgot them when we left

Knowing how short life is, I ran up my credit, declared bankruptcy and then walked away

I need to carpe every diem so joyously I graze myself further into obesity at every meal

As I realize that any day might be my last, I guzzle a couple extra beers every night

In an effort to meet my potential, I let my wastes fall wherever I produce them

To save a bit of precious time I toss aside the packaging as I quickly drive away

Wishing not to waste a single vital minute, she viciously cell-gossiped as she drove to work

Grabbing life by the horns, we took another vacation with our 2^nd home equity loan

I have set myself a goal of maintaining my instant gratification, over the long run

Determined not to be ensnared like ordinary people, we financed new ATVs and jet-skis

In my luxury performance sedan I truly feel in step with the grand march of life here on earth

Pondering my place in our wondrous panoply, I find the remote control once again

Striving to center, she purchased fine cosmetics, costly surgery and an unreal hair color

I financed a lifetime of stirring satisfaction identifying with my corporate home teams

Seeing that we might as well be comfortable, I bought another family land barge

In my moments of panic and confusion, jesus is there beside me, his hand upon my shoulder

Believing the thrifty died rich and the old died emptily, we resolved to spend it now

Why, with heaven assured for us, we can afford to let tomorrow take care of itself

Knowing I might not always be there for them, I grant my children’s every wish, immediately

Since you’re really never sure how long you’ve got, we’ll go ahead and get supersized once again

I seek a deeper, longer-lasting meaning as I drive blindly past the homeless every day

Knowing that you only go around one time, I grab passing pleasures by the armful

I pursue an unspoken long-term goal of simply enjoying each and every minute as it comes

Hearing of other’s suffering, we determined to grasp as much as we can just as fast as we can

In the light of world problems far beyond our control, we’ll just kick it back and relax

We took lessons from other’s early misfortunes and keep our savings to a minimum

Given the shortness of life, it seems right to get away from work as often as I can

I could never stand to be 40, so what’s the damn point learning this useless crap, anyhow?

We wanted it all, so we got a huge house, big-screen TV, ski boat and a giant RV

I always just had to smile when the Doc told me to start exercising and lose some weight

We’re going for the gusto and reaching out now for maximum enjoyment, in our great lust for life

We dine out finely in our new clothes and we usually make that minimum monthly CC payment

The world is going to shit so we might as well have a good time for just as long as we can

With those 2^nd mortgages, the house was way underwater so we rightly just walked away from it

I need to go for it while I can still enjoy it, not later on when I’m doddering and sick

Right now, my answer to the big questions is to just follow my desires, artificial or not

Lets Fight Them Terrists Here

I say “bring ‘em on’ over here so we can strip ‘em , whip ‘em and hang ‘em

We know what they look like and, buddy, it sure ain’t nethin like us

We’ll light ‘em up when they’re stooping down on top of them little towels

Why bother shipping all that stuff over there, just give us them weapons and ammunition

We can cut em down in the Wal*Mart parking lot and drag em over behind the church

I say let’s burn their fekin mosques when they go inside seekin’ santuary

We ain’t scared to fight ‘em here,, and besides we got no damn business over there

You don’t even have to pay us as long as there’s guns, refreshments and medics available

We’ll search them out like rats - with dogs and burn ‘em in bonfires for everyone to see

They can put it on TV and make a lot of money on ads and slick promotional shit

Hell, spend that money here and we can be happy killin and prosperin economically

Just let some fucking jihadis darken my door and then they’ll see what happens in a gotdam hurry

Hopefully, they try to tell us to grow beards and kiss on some little carpet 5 times a day

just let them tell my wife once to cover up her damn face and they’ll find theyselfs in little pens

Don’t forget that Jesus is with us here and covers our butts as we stomp on their faces

If we fight them here we don’t waste our money there in that stinkin, fly-ridden dessert

Won’t none of their heathen innocent citizens get hurt if we cap the bad ones right here

We’ll pose for pictures atop heaps of their corpses stacked in the backs of our pickup trucks

Local TV can show drawings of suspects and we’ll cruise in our trucks and pick ‘em off

We can video their torture and post it on the internet as an invite for ther friends

Lets fight them here so we don’t have to go way over there and get all like bogged down & shit

Lets everybody start on their own street alookin for sign of they evil, antichrist horseshit

We’ll blow ‘em up together publicly with their own suicide cell phones and car bombs

The army can pay us as civilian contractors and private security forces right here at home

We can RFID all honest citizens and have open season on anyone who don’t scan

Which fekin chickenshit was it anyway said we’re afraid to have to fight ‘em here?

We’ll publicize their mass shallow graves and arrest them when they come down to mourn

Let’s put a bounty on their robed caliphate asses just like we did with them other varmints

Let’s fight them here so I can teach my boys how to get her done real young

It’d be a great economic stimulus cause we’d need lots of services and supplies

I say don’t let’s just Bring Em On, I’m sayin Bring Em On Over Here, with tattooed foreheads

We can start by setting them fuckheads down in Gitmo loose somewhere in Arkansas

Ain’t gonna be no liberal protests when we save their homes from bath-robed martyrs

Instead of gettin unemployment, the outsourced can join up with the local militia

We’ll fight our way out of this here recession locally, battling godless foreign heathen

Yep, we can restore our world image by bravely resistin invading terrarist killers, right here at home

No Longer The Man I Only Thought I Was

I’m not the man now I just used to think that I was before

Anymore, I’m not the man I only thought I was

I am no longer the man who once used to believe I was

I’m simply not the same man I really never was

It’s really just not like we only thought it was before

Things aren’t like we used to make them out to seem to be

Nowadays just aren’t the same as we used to have them feel

It’s different now than we simply believed it would be, before

Tomorrow isn’t even what we thought it was going to be

The future isn’t as bright as we could see it, way back then

Our kids real lives don’t match the fairytales we always told them

The future is simply not the same as how we held it up before us

I’m really not the man I believed I was always in the act of becoming

Yesterday just ain’t the same as we made it out to be back then

These days are different than that ancient history of ten long years ago

Pretty soon has been disconnected from the good times we were waiting for