Consumption

 

Consumers everyone everywhere.

Consumers of sunlight and air.

Consumers of loneliness and despair.

Consumers of happiness and gloom.

Consumers of music and games.

Consumers of sickness and health.

The wealthy consuming the poor.

Facebook, Google and Amazon,

T-Mobile and Samsung,

Verizon and Spectrum,

Disney, GM, and Netflix,

Exxon, fire and ice,

sugar and spice,

naughty and nice,

chicken soup and rice,

Beelzebub and Jesus Christ,

and for a price,

I consume you and you

consume me.

All feed and cosume to survive.

Walmart and Target,

Wall Street and Main Street,

Little Caesar's and Burger King,

every what-not and gizmo devour

every second, every hour,

grace before dinner, bedtime prayer.

We say please and thank you

before and after we consume.

Cancer and AIDS consume,

Alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, heart attacks,

Rhythm and Blues, fatty foods consume.

Peach trees and arthritic knees consume.

Nike's and Old Navy, Max Factor

and Preparation H, Snuggies, Huggies,

Depends and Kibbles and Bits consume.

The Blue Danube and Eiffel Tower,

The Grand Canyon and Ft. Leavenworth,

Cleveland, Ohio, Las Vegas and

Delta Airlines, AR-15s and Keebler

Cookies, murder, mayhem,

mass killers and crooked cops,

obesity, poverty and stupidity consume.

Fascists, Qanon, KKK and Proud Boys

consume.

Face it, folks, we are all doomed.

The pundits, politicians and preachers

and the powers that be

say there is no other way. Scientists

tell us it’s too late to change.

Consumption not salvation all along

has been the Grand Plan.

Get what’s coming to you while

you still can. And for God’s sake,

let go of the remote, hang up

the smart phone, take a deep breath

and have a pleasant day!

            -30-

Chris Hanch 6-22-2021