What It Has Become

I am surrounded,
by multicolored,
shimmering, shining capitalism
and it stifles me.

This isn’t what capitalism was meant to be,
what it has become,
a mask over the foul stench of greed.

A world of glowing neon and concrete
as far as the eye can see
bumper to bumper
carbon emitting
chrome trimmed steel beasts
destroying us,
tearing the world apart.

We walk around
with our hand in the next man’s pocket
and dare to deny we are thieves.

We have done this.

You and I with our acceptance,
our ignorance,
our arrogance.

Our denials only fill the air
with more hatred and venom.

Knowing what we have become,
what I am a part of,
gives me no pride.

I search for something real
something natural
but nothing is real here.

I long to escape
to a place we haven’t tainted
with this version of life,
a place where life is not manmade,
just the world around me,
with the stars as my blanket
covering me
as I snuggle into the warm desert sands
listening to earth’s lullaby.

Yet I stand
in the midst of the destruction
ashamed at the part I have played
and know I cannot run from this.

This isn’t what capitalism was meant to be,
what it has become.

© Michele Markley 2009