Darling,
the world is on fire.

We are Jack and Rose
and the inevitable destruction of our world,
perhaps this, is our iceberg.

And it’s just like the scene in the movie,
(Oh love, you know the one)
Jack puts Rose on the life boat
because he wants to save her –
Rose leaps back onto a sinking ship
because she cannot be saved without him.

This is not a movie,
but there is a pit in my stomach
and whether I am to fight or fly
I do not know but,
I do know I want to be with you.
You jump, I jump.
You fall, I fall.
We are only safe as one.

Darling,
please
do not leave me in this world alone –

*Look,
it comes this way.

O Babylon! Your God is a sport-utility vehicle, a VCR, and a two-car garage!
You delight in images of killing and artificially-large-breasted women!
Your arteries are clogged with Big Macs and a thousand pieces of Kentucky-Fried Chicken!
Your God is Technology.  Your God is Progress.

Your skyscrapers rise to the heavens!  Your astronauts fly to the moon!
You clone sheep! alter genes! make a mountain into a parking lot!
Your fields flower!  Your grain-bins groan under the weight of the ripe corn!
But the land of your soul is a desolation.

O God of Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers, and Bill Gates,...
All the nations adore Thee!
(Pretty soon they'll be ordering Papa John pizza by cell phone in New Guinea....)
Your God is Mammon.

After the movies, after the Quarter-pounders-with-cheese, super-size fries, and a large Coke,
after the evening news, the Hostess cupcakes, golf, beers, and swimming 20 laps,
the hunger will be the same as the day you first felt it, O Babylon!
the thirst of the soul, O Babylon!

In A Quandary

In a quandary.  In a pickle.
Temptation and dependency;
Enslaved by self-indulgence;
Keenness that becomes a blend
Of day’s beginning and day’s end.

On the bus, inside the car,
Telephone beside the ear;
Walking, talking to yourself? Oh no,
It’s talking to a god-knows-who
For god-knows-why.

Am I the only person
Riled by this phenomenon?
Addiction to diversion
In the guise of help and benefit?
Yes, even these can dig the pit
Of hell-p-less-ness.
Information, facts mind-blowing, quick.
Fascination and allurement on a stick.

Having learned some new found tricks -
Heartening, supportive pick-me-ups,
One notices, (I notice) that the
‘Pickle’ quickly trickles down
Into those risky parts of vanity,
Its need for company
And other longings.

Frisky sports who gaily own
Desktops, laptops, Ipads, smart phones…
Know what I talk about:
Joy that takes you from yourself
While telling you it is yourself:

Programs, sites and violent games,
Interaction with big names –
Presidents and criminals -
All their problematic schemes:
Everything’s on board for every sort:
The bored, the interested, the scared.
The strong, the undecided: snared.

A sticky, tricky, muddled mess,
A sanctuary become quandary:
Game of chess and source of stress
And one we seldom choose to harness;
Goodness!
Can one win it?
I’m not sure.  I’m in it.

In A Quandary 7.26.2017
Our Times, Our Culture II; Circling Round Reality;
Arlene Corwin

fluid cries erase the night
in a merciless drought
of blinding Gods

sporadic firefly lights engulf boisterous fights—
hooded vultures choke on trivial grains

kisses of amber tissue complement
contrite countenances

inconspicuous soles merge
with coarse protruding talons
while lithe specters fleet around

yet the
walk of humanity prevails no fall

so he had my number because we met for tutoring on Wednesdays after class but he would text me really late at night asking me the weirdest stuff i would politely say this is incredibly inappropriate and i would not like to talk like this with you but still around two am he would text me lewd stuff again and again then asking if i would go on a date i said dude i am old enough to be your mother imagine if
a guy
          received texts
          like that
                    from a girl
                                  insisting to do ****** stuff BUT
he
would
have
liked
it.

So, you’re from Africa?”

“Yes, I am.”

“When did you come to the United States?”

“In 2007.”

“Cool, so did you see any lions?”

“Yes. At the Zoo.”

“Did you have running water?”

“Yes. So much so that I was forced to take a shower every night.”

“Did you have electricity?”

“Yes, I almost got electrocuted once.”

“Did you go to School?”

“Wish I didn't. Every weekday at 8 I was there.”

“Then, do you speak African?”

“…. No. As talented as I'm not good enough to speak an entire continent worth of languages. I mean do you speak North American?”