Cheerful commemoration of times long past
Our perennial wish for better days
Ritualized hope for the future we cast,
In ironic celebration of inevitable decay.
Toast to another celestial revolution passed by
On this unlikely rock we ride around our star
As billions of galaxies light up the sky
Oblivious to how significant we think we are.
We look to the future, towards a better day
Lest we forget that we have nothing but time, Resolutions foretell the next act in our play
Through weary smiles mouthing Auld Lang Syne.
We drunkenly celebrate as another year ends,
Bracing for the future it ominously portends

When we recognize the con
And it settles in our bones
Will we realize rights are gone
Or cast ourselves before the throne?
Will we see what’s wrong and right?
Mesmerized by gilded flair
I wonder - will we still fight
for our favored billionaire?

The circus is back in town
But who’s in charge?
The ringmaster? Or the clown?
And while the freak-show’s at large,
Fighting over the crown,
And deciding how much to charge,
They watch the rest of us drown

All that’s left is the rotting dead
A putrid offense to the senses
Devoid of all life that defined it,
Where the carrion feeders
Thrive in their stench -
Until there’s nothing left

“This is not medically necessary for you”
Say insurance men when the bills come due.
My physician and I might disagree,
Will that even matter? I guess we’ll see.
This is the land of milk and honey,
Get what you need, if you have the money,
That’s the long story short, get ready to fight
If it cuts into profits, we’ll know what’s right.  
As for you, well, have you tried prayer?
That’s much easier than expecting us to care.
Just turn your eyes up to the man in the sky,
Hey, if we’re wrong, it’s no loss, you just die.

I walk encumbered
With my weary soul
In search of what?
I can never know
Beneath the crush
Of obligations grow
To cavernous cracks
I don’t dare to show.
The hidden collapse
That’s steady and slow