Lao Sue And Other Poems

<p>Collected poems harvested from the fertile soil of decaying illusions. </p><p><br></p><p>From the book:</p><p><strong>Crazy</strong></p><p><br></p><p>They'll make you poor</p><p>then shame you for being poor</p><p>then push you into a job that keeps you poor </p><p>at a billionaire megacorporation. </p><p><br></p><p>They'll make you crazy</p><p>then shame you for being crazy </p><p>then sell you the cure for crazy </p><p>at eighty bucks a pill. </p><p><br></p><p>You're a failure if you can't make ends meet</p><p>on impossible wages at an impossible cost of living </p><p>with a worthless degree you will never pay off no matter how hard you work</p><p>while advertisers blare at you about your insufficiencies</p><p>while the news man tells you war is normal</p><p>while Hollywood tells you the system is working perfectly</p><p>while armed police guard grocery store dumpsters full of food from the hungry</p><p>while executives go on five billion-dollar space rides for fun</p><p>while you live surrounded by screens that tell you you are crazy</p><p>if you think any of this is not sane.</p><p>Take Oligarchizac<sup>TM</sup> for your depression</p><p>take Plutocracipam<sup>TM</sup> for your anxiety</p><p>just ninety bucks a pill.</p><p>Side effects may include compliance</p><p>acquiescence subservience docility menticidal ideation </p><p>a marked lack of interest in guillotines</p><p>a dystopian society and a dying biosphere. </p><p><br></p><p>And the pundit says</p><p>A new study by a Raytheon-funded think tank says war is good for the environment</p><p>but first here's a millionaire to explain the benefits of urinating on the homeless. </p><p><br></p><p>And Hollywood says</p><p>Here's a movie about well-dressed attractive people with nice houses</p><p>engaging in amusing antics you're too poor and stressed out to experience yourself. </p><p><br></p><p>And the news man says</p><p>Here's a rags-to-riches story which proves capitalism works fine</p><p>and you should hate yourself if you can't hack it here. </p><p><br></p><p>And the advertisement says</p><p>Do you feel like you're losing your mind due to your sense of inadequacy</p><p>because you can't afford Google's latest NSA surveillance device?</p><p>Ask your doctor about Empiradol<sup>TM</sup></p><p>just a hundred bucks a pill. </p><p><br></p><p>They lock us in a room</p><p>and fill the room with water</p><p>and then shame us for drowning</p><p>and then charge us for tiny gasps of air</p><p>from a hose that leads to an ecosystem</p><p>that they are destroying as quickly as they can. </p><p><br></p><p>And hey I've invented a new antidepressant anti-anxiety antipsychotic</p><p>that I'm getting to market as quickly as I can.</p><p>It's not a pill or a jab or an electrical shock treatment </p><p>it's just a big wad of cash taken by force from thieving megacorporations. </p><p>Side effects may include peace and relaxation </p><p>an ability to buy food and think clearly</p><p>a fondness for red flags</p><p>and a hysterical corporate media. </p><p><br></p><p>And hey I think we just might make it</p><p>past the veil of madness and cutthroat cruelty. </p><p><br></p><p>And hey I think there's something deep within us as yet untapped and </p><p>as yet unrealized. </p><p><br></p><p>And hey I think an earthquake's coming</p><p>that just might topple the towers of madness once and for all. </p>