open place

we want more
by we I guess
I mean americans
though pretty much
the rest of the world
listens the same
we want it all
now
always
we want God
boxed
tied up
neatly
used to
secure arguments
and quiet loud relatives
we want land
preserved pristine
and highways to get to them
fast
before they're gone
we want to travel
quickly
cheaply
to go there
and SAY
we've been
our passports looking like
a proud third graders report card
with pretty
colorful
stamps
buying
maybe a hat or some bright scarf
soon forgotten

that will fall and clog a closet door for years

we do not take time
to sit
to breathe
our yoga is a competition
we run on treadmills
the metaphors screaming
no one listening

perhaps im just getting old
recognizing styles from 35 years ago
newly worn as if invented yesterday
listening to the same tired
speeches
the same old bugaboos
the victims
always
the other
the speeches have become cruder though
the tone more openly
vile
and
ignorant
ignorance is flaunted
militant
and by ignorance
i do not mean lack of
education
i mean
the argument that
the earth is flat
because the bible is printed
on flat pages
i mean the OTHER always being
someone who doesnt look
like my reflection

perhaps im simply
getting old
the cops all seem so young
the winters seem longer
the spring so short a time
the music though
if you stop
is always playing
it is beyond the hum
the hub
the din
it is the mercy of the wind
the breath of the earth
it is the planet
itself
rejoicing
who the hell am I to
dissent?