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these days
looking around the globe
one might believe that we are traveling in time

just in the wrong direction

regression as progress
seems to be
the dominant notion of the day
creating wannabes in various disguises
     populist czars, sultans, nationalists, dictators,
     assorted self-appointed saviors
     of their peoples’ wealth and health,
trumpeting fences, walls, tough immigration laws,
etc., etc.  
to keep out and silence all those aliens
     or invade their countries
      and eliminate them

     who otherwise are welcome
     as our partners in the global trade
     that seems to dominate the world of greed

so we can all be ourselves

     whatever that might mean

claiming to solve the problems of tomorrow
     with memories of yesterday
is not only hopeless but quite dangerous

do you remember
what that glorified past
actually was?
Apropos the current situation in the Ukraine this 2016 poem is reposted with two additional lines
Neelmani Kumar May 2021
NOW LIFE’S GONNA BE DESPAIR
LIFE’S GONNA BE ****** AND FROZEN
LIFE’S GONNA NEVER BE HAPPY AGAIN
LIKE I HAD WHEN I WAS YOUNG

‘CAUSE I REGRET THE DECISION I’VE MADE
‘CAUSE I BROKE THE BRIDGES I BUILT
‘CAUSE I LEFT THE ONES I LOVED
WHICH DESTROYED MY FUTURE
AND STAINED MY BLOOD

I’M NOT THE ONE I WAS
OR I ASSUMED ME TO BE
I CAN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
I’M SO SURE AND I GUARANTEE

‘CAUSE IT’S IN MY ROOTS, IT’S IN MY VEINS
IT’S IN MY BLOOD, IT’S IN MY BRAIN
TO BE CARELESS, TO BE RECKLESS
TO DESTROY EVERYTHING, TO FINISH MYSELF  

AND SO, I MISS MY BEST FRIEND I HAD
I MISS MY CHILDHOOD I PLAYED
I MISS THE FLASHBACKS I ADORE
WHEN LIFE WAS A PARTY TO BE THROWN
BUT THAT ALL WAS TWO YEARS BEFORE
VanillinVillain Feb 2021
In jolts my bones erupt,
shatter and realign within
flesh contorted,
waxen;
until amorphous I return,
to draw up the covers
of that old snakeskin.
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
Raised on vaccine
Children of the thorny hedgerows
Lines blur
Minds stir
But lungs breathe in the bloom

Raised on old wives tales
Children of the wide open sea
Sights clear
Horizon blue
But brain dead in the surf

There's strength in numbers
Once immunity is lost
So is hope
Ken Mears Nov 2019
Society has crumbled,

The world has regressed,

Everyone is depressed,

Mentally jumbled.


We think we are above,

All of those dystopian stories,

That we don't fall in those categories,

But they fit like a glove.


Fahrenheit 451?

Who reads books anyway?

There is no keeping the media at bay,

Our screens are on all day!


Orwell's 1984?

Thanks to phones we have no privacy,

Everyone inflicts their own policy,

And agenda evermore.


The Giver?

Our joy and suffering,

Are ****** away by our constant screening,

And pleasures made to deliver.


Ready Player One?

We turn to escapism,

So we can run,

From activism, racism, and fascism.


We think we are above,

All of those dystopian stories,

That we don't fall in those categories,

But they fit like a glove.
Max Sep 2019
As the worlds gets smaller these days,
The distance grows.

As life is being made easier,
Why do the feelings get harder?

Why is it that when we look at each other,
That the the eyes are not the thing we look at?

What is progression if regression is it's consequence?
Thinking in a negative or realistic way, I can't tell the difference.
George Anthony Mar 2019
the razor edge
of living sharp and free
is when the roses lose their petals,
the thorns are all i can see
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