Don't Look Down!

Sometimes it feels like an
an elaborate movie playing just for me,
but I can't change the channel
and the volume is stuck on as loud
as it will go and no one seems to notice
and I wonder if they're even alive.
                     Sometimes hope
                                                filters through
and leaves the head feeling dizzy. And we cope
with it all in one way or another. Some self
medicate while others try to transcend as if there
is
                          some place to go
        beyond this.
But if that is the case, why does it feel so
stagnant? Try being alone for a little
while. You will feel it too. It rattles the
brains and makes the sweat come. This
constant rotation of the same scenes playing
over and over again as the end nears. It makes
you
       want to
fast forward just to get it over with. It is
only going to be more of the same with
a few minutes of hope thrown in to keep
your attention.
                         And there are those
               who say-
                               You're not looking at it
in the right way. But you could always say
that they need to open their fucking eyes.
                      They are too occupied to notice.
             They have
their friends and families. They are busy fucking
while they are being bent over in secret. They
have their phones and their television programs.
They have a retirement to plan for, and a mortgage.
At night they dream of bunnies and the chick they
fucked in high school. They pretend that everything
is going to be all right. And it will be
                                                             as long
as they keep their eyes shut tight. And.
                                                       Don't look
                                    down.
There are bargains to be had, coupons to clip. Fuck
the commercials. Do not pay attention to the ghettos,
don't look at the educationally starved. Do not open
the goddamn door and look outside because it is a
nightmare out there.
                                  Send in your donations
to make it all better. That way you can pretend that
some of the money you gave actually goes to those
in need and not to the rich fuckers running the charity.
Try to tell yourself that your credit line will buy your
way out of the mess that is dropping down from above.
Pretend the wars are justified to protect your rights.
Pretend the gas prices are low because they care about
you and not because they are trying to fuck with another
country who isn't keen on Capitalism, but would rather
wreak havoc on their citizens by make believe methods
to ensure no one ever gets ahead. It is all a different head
                                               on the same
                                                                   Monster.
They will say that if you pay too much attention to what
is happening, it will make you miserable. That is absolutely
true, but at least you are not pretending it isn't there. Maybe
if we all
                                pay attention more often,
               the shit will really hit the fan
and we can make a little change happen.
                               That would be funny.
                                                                   Wouldn't it?
Almost as funny as that cute kitten video you posted a couple
of days ago.

the regulation of consumption

build the bridges
to bind us,
to find us
another
leader
of the sympathetic
mind
and gather the pieces
like pawns
in the fatality
of the game
and be shamed
by the trials
set forth
for value
and worth.
if ignorance
is bliss,
then wealth
is the catalyst
by which we shall
all be burned.
through it all,
we have never learned
from our mistakes
and we continue to take
any and everything-
for our wants
are at stake.
and what we have
isn't nearly as great
as what we take
when all that we
possess
is valued to be
less
than what we want
in the future.
give us new toys
to destroy
the fabric
of the value of life
so we may continue
in strife
at any cost
for all the products
before they are lost
and out of date
because we hate
to lose out
on perfectly good
junk.