Cave Man

Within the echo chamber,
where shadows support the byte,
reports from the battle for dollars
keep on the lights with rhythmic
shocks through electronic hearths.

The ol’ time religion dies
with much whimpering
at the chorus by the congregation.

Outside the concerted hall
the sock puppets continue to rule
with science spearheading
inquests and expeditions.
Shoulder upon shoulder,
elephant upon turtle, tools rumble
from earth mover to tweezers
that don’t quite meet to pinch.

Without the cosmos in a capsule
the brain bunks alone only
to greet a mirror when dawn breaks:
Without gray matter in stark relief
and verifiable during becoming
stars spin out from the senses.

Culture Climate Change

Dressed in camouflage and later
each evening returning to a cell,
the steward wonders among
the fauna and flowering.

Not inmate or monk,
but no narcissus anymore,
the Goldie Flock Zone
resident sweats, for now,
to balance…“just right.”

At first, the flower child
and animus admirer
on a see-saw responded
to the surrounding
please pleas with jokes:
Who came first chicken,
egg, or farmer Jones?

Conspicuous consuming
and envy-waste warred
against the poor, blaming
starvation on hunger.
Slums choked on self-loathing.

The culture climate changed
when hopelessness challenged
windpipes and Homo sapiens
lungs could not find oxygen enough
without trees and seed couriers.

Flint Offerings

Charred stick piles substitute
for grave stones in cemeteries:
Death matches after consumption.

Electronic screens strike at desire
to ignite momentary delight
that soon burdens attics, garages, sidewalks.

Whole families tunnel deeper
and deeper into debt: The Family Plot,
the daisy plan dug under consciousness.

Generation after generation,
while false needs torched hearts
and nerve endings with death-denying tricks,
misses out on the talent shows.

For the protagonist at “The End”
the ta-da illusion stuns, takes breath away.

The solitary “Hurray” awakens
for every sun master who springs
from inability to over-compensation.

Culture Bubbles

The human ecosystems
that spawn along the shifting timeline
speak to each other in foreign tongues:
Parents pointing and children miming
with little understanding from the other.

Seasonal greenhouse societies
sweat and blossom separately,
gaping between with change.

The globe-studs on an infinite
watchband attempt through magic
to leave tradition behind:
An enlightened legacy limps.

Each person living
on a getting-along island
negotiates for member status.
From intimate friction,
bobble people make
though gibber gabber
enters other ears.

Loose Change

When purpose arrives at Coolsville,
where fingers and bubble gum pop
and young people fake Ok,
intent dissipates from change.

The contingency baby may remain
in the tub and not splash out back
with the dirty water, but the drive
from knowing to destination stalls out.
Everyone packs into caravans
when traveling to nowhere.

Putting feet up kicks back at no one:
A sleep-aid prescription.

The birth pang hieroglyphics
tear up mother until the protégée sings.
Pregnant with objective,
recruiters seeking commitment,
settle for waffling and delusion.

Justice ends by stopping for coffee
to awaken a new sensibility in town
but losing out to mugs and old hands.