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?

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

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

Fumbling Along, Accidentally Shattering

Honestly, all I did was pick it up for the first time and it just fell apart in my hands

It was not our objective to turn rivers into filthy, stinking, channelized dead zones

I tripped over it and then watched as it split into a million razor-pointed shards

Our plan did not specify that we would convert life-giving rain into poisonous runoff

I never saw that other car approaching as I texted while turning left, reaching for my coffee

We did not mean to gash the landscape and ruin the air to provide power for happy families

I forced its mechanism until something snapped and then I slowly picked up the instruction sheet

Their collateral suffering was not detailed in our larger strategy for their democratic liberation

With a choice of assembling it one way of 2 ways, as always I did it incorrectly the first 2 times

Our efforts to grow our food were not meant to unwind the surrounding ecosystem

I don’t remember what I was grasping for when I spilled the coffee that ruined the rug

It was never intended that our war for their freedom would fracture their society

Afterwards it was easy to see how stupid it was to leave it sitting there, right in the way

Trying to foster economic growth we unwittingly destroyed the natural systems that supported it

I bet on a long shot without thinking much and quickly lost far more than I could afford

When the logging and mining was done there were suddenly neither jobs nor tourists

I was backing out when I felt a muffled crunch and heard a splitting sound behind me

We assumed a trillion independent selfish decisions would blindly optimize our futures

I reached out for something else and this fell, broken into a thousand pieces, on the floor

We never realized how really cheap oil was until we were suddenly paralyzed by its price

I was just trying to keep us happy but our family emissions helped end a biological era

We never thought real estate would tumble as we packaged up all those bad loans

It accidentally shattered as we turned the corner and struck it against the wall

We never intended to create this endless sterile, unimaginative and alienating environment

Trying to steady the nail with one hand, I beat my finger black and blue with the hammer

Well, obviously we could not have foreseen a climate change induced agricultural collapse

In my hurry I tried to carry too much at once and then cleaned up for many hours afterwards

The objectives of our corporate hog farms did not include poisoning human drinking water

Standing up, I lacerated my forehead one more time on that darn overhanging shelf

We could not foresee their local development decisions that fostered regional ecological collapse

The wrench slipped again and I gashed my knuckle which then filled with filthy grease

The roads we built to speed up traffic quickly cloned into snarled and decaying suburbs

Walking in the dark, I broke my wrist before I even knew I had slipped on unseen black ice

Pesticides saved the crops but got into the water and poisoned our mothers and children

I did not realize you stood behind us as I joked loudly about your many shortcomings

We never meant to ruin the economy by destroying the only environment that made it possible, at all

Time Could Not Heal

Time did not heal the wounds he wore as he attended his own solemn burial

The passing of so many hurried years did not make them any wiser

Their broadcasted fantasies were not meant to have prepared the populace

Endless dull repetition did not bring her to some flashpoint of enlightenment

Sadly, the fear and worry that always drove them never lead to that happily ever after

All the time that convenience saved them was not stockpiled for their later enjoyment

Their passing would not heal the awful recognitions they suffered during their last days

There was no happy guided segue from this laying tubed up in a paralyzed desperation

That ever-pending eternity would disperse their strong feelings but never change them

Forever could not make up for any of their suffering, despite other’s pious assurances

For time could heal them no more once they had gone off and left us for good

The light-hearted empty lives of some, ironically enough, proved as useful as any pious brooding

Time neither erased his sins nor granted him the forgiveness his victims finally learned

Distance did not separate them from the memories they would always carry inside

No matter who those sad women slept with, they always awoke with themselves

The many long years did not help him to accept his own hideous apparition

She always carried that pain in a place that was walled off, but not inaccessible

They always sought something indefinable, though there was nothing left to tempt them

Time would certainly not heal the loneliness of her isolation during those final years

His healthy lifestyle was of no use forever once all his cells had ceased activity

They even dreamed it was not time that they needed, but devices that might save it for them

As he slowly faded, his only wish was that he could simply resume his empty, hectic life

The eternity that awaited her was oblivious to her many selfless sacrifices

His passing did not bring him the long-awaited pleasure of seeing his many enemies in Hell

Sadly, their quiet acceptance of lifelong suffering did not grant them an eternity with god

Time did not even try to heal their pain as their spreading wakes never quite faded to nothing

There would be no paradoxical heaven which included both the wise hermit and the great leader

Time could not halt the dispersion of any molecules that made up their hypothetical eternal souls

Quest For Inner Peace V2.0

I simply could not just ignore my body odor in the search for inner peace

Got flipped off while talking to Sally on my cell driving to my yoga class

Well, actually I go a couple times a week and it’s only $35 a month

I think I really noticed something after only a couple of classes

The other day I almost touched my toes for the first time since I cant remember when

I was really getting out there as we lay in the corpse position, then I fell asleep

It felt sorta like I saw myself take off silently in one of those rescue helicopters

Why, the traffic didn’t even bother me as I drove alone all the way back home

I think I scratched the side of a hybrid floating out of my SUV in their parking lot

Shutting down my comm device, I was shedding my earthly concerns before the class

I knew I needed another measured portion of the infinite, really soon

I was still a pilgrim despite the deeply worn tracks I followed thru our rodent warrens

I dropped my thoughts of dinner and even forgot all about my office foes for just a moment

I sought to see myself on a lovely beach in a rainbow sunset framed by reflecting clouds

I was only dimly aware of a woman’s gas in front of me as we assumed the next position

I repeated the computer-generated nonsense syllable that was my unique personal mantra

I pursued this inner quest as vigorously as I had pushed to get the kids thru school

My husband said he had learned to meditate as well and he practiced on the couch at night

Visions of the eternal void maybe just came to me in short bursts, as I exhaled

I took to going barefoot in loose clothes at times, in the privacy of my own home

My cooking shaded away from meat and towards instant packaged Asian main courses

Sometimes I felt a twinge of guilt sipping on a Latte instead of bathing in the Indus

After a long internet search I found a guided Indian Enlightenment tour with a real guru

I began to see a bit of God in all the plants and insects as I sprayed and weeded my garden

Passionate conservatism began to make a lot more sense as my eyes slowly opened

I peeled off layers of consciousness with the onions, searching thru my life’s mandala

Many weekends I applied but a half coat of makeup and wore my hair quite simply

There was so much more to me than these well-tended suburbs could ever reveal

The occasional housekeeping haiku began appearing in my personal diary

I wrote down the dreams that awakened me and tried to fathom them as I blew dry

Sometimes the New Age music cable channel brought quiet, purging tears to my eyes

I spent 20 minutes in the park listening for songbirds on my way to grocery shop

Changed my ring tone to a soothing melody and tried to let up on the car horn

Began to sense the triviality in the banal and un-insightful existence of others

Adopted a Tibetan orphan overseas on the internet and walked dogs at the shelter

Took comfort in knowing that I was following the ancient path of enlightenment

The Lights Are Going Out All Over

The lights are slowly going out all over

All around our engines are starting to shut down

No longer does the blue entertainment light dance out of every living room

More bridges are simply too unsafe to even try and cross

The stores are closing up, all across the little towns

Barbecues are flickering out all across this land that god had blessed

Monstrous RVs sit empty for lack of good cheap fuel

Bluehairs wait in vain for their outsourced contract foreign servants

Billboards are becoming illegible due to wind and rain and sun

The water taps only flow a trickle of dark and smelly brine

The roads seem to be growing ever harder to negotiate

Halted trains are blocking intersections in a mostly haphazard fashion

Can’t pick up no more early morning traffic scans or upbeat weather reports

Tightfaced mommies ferrying soccer broods are growing ever scarcer

Vacuous mall tweenies indolently draining daddy’s cash are disappearing daily

Our power just shuts off randomly for hours each and every day

MickieD even runs out of burgers with increasing regularity

Been standin on line for day-old factory white bread for hours, all the time

Bulldozers are sitting idle and power tools lay listless with no energy to drive them

Middle Management’s micro death march projects just aren’t moving us anymore

Toilets aren’t flushing so there’s clumps and tissue everywhere in the bushes

The president assures us that our ingenious people can meet all of these challenges and more

Suburban survivalists have taken over all the forest campgrounds

Wal*Marts are closing up all over cause China’s cut them off

Credit markets are frozen up again but there’s no bailout on the way this time

Military convoys are halted as the soldiers go on patrol to look for gasoline

The garbage trucks don’t come too much and the stuff has piled up real high

They say the fundamentals are still solid but it just doesn’t matter anymore

My downloads don’t hardly ever finish cause so many servers are simply gone

Monday night football even got called off last week cause the stadium lights were out

Formerly swaggering apartment cowboys cant find beer at their favorite stores

The cops are always hurrying off somewhere but never seem to stop

Saw tractors and combines sitting empty out in stubbly, unkempt fields

Staffs at all the hospitals are being replaced by unpaid security guards

The tourist has disappeared as an income source for hungry locals of every stripe

It’s best just to sit quietly in the churches listening to mumbling priests and watching candles burn

By A Thread

Balanced on a tipping point thanks solely to our own good and focused efforts

Risking not only our foolish selves but the entire complex web of life on earth as well

So close now we must shout above the noise we make so we do not have to hear

Hanging on by someone else’s fingernail while we concern ourselves only with the view

Piddling with the fancy GPS instead of just looking up ahead through the windshield

Held up by an unraveling thread yet somehow still struggling wildly to be freed

Heated almost to the boiling point but unwilling to turn down the flame

Out of breath but still running while trying to bray silly orders and directions

Able to see the consequences clearly now but still unwilling to change the course

Just looking at the road ahead as the entire load commences to sway and tip

Depending that the river ice won’t break as we cross far too late in the springtime

Speeding through a stormy night overloaded with worn out tires on bad roads

Stumbling in the darkness but too much in a hurry to take the time to fix the light

Wading just at the edge of a steep, invisible drop-off without knowing how to swim

Needle pegged on empty but so far away from any town on a cloudy, moonless night

Talking on the cellphone and screaming at the kids as the latte spills and a truck pulls out

Much older now, for such a long time, than we ever imagined we could become

Safe and dry with a picnic lunch in our rowboat unaware of the waterfall up ahead

In a hurry, but blinded, on a foggy night with the street covered all in white

So near to losing all we’ve built but staying focused on living only for the moment

At the point where an unlikely salvation can only just arrive in the very nick of time

Unknowingly separated by merest hairsbreadth from total and eternal annihilation

Milliseconds from a stunning crash we did not see coming and will not live to remember

Catching the disappearing rays of the last gorgeous sunset on our final dream vacation

Caught in a still picture of that fantastic blur at the end of this, our futile race

Poised upon a great divide and now at the mercy of entropy as to which way we flow

Having risen to the edge of space there is this brief and subtle pause upon our zenith

Reaching too far over, from several rungs too high, with no one below to steady us

Betting everything on an untested long shot some salesman touted as the next sure thing

Just one more minor system insult from initiating a cascading set of networked failures

Going so fast that even if we make it we won’t really know until it’s way long over

Hanging by one silky thread but still living really large thanks to greed and denial