water crackles in sunlight
tips of waves are cut like diamonds
gleaming. glinting. pulsing.
ducks and loons bobbing
their babies crying
cheep cheep cheep
i push pedals.
riding alongside the vliet.
i love it.
i ride to the lake
hoping to see my favorite gang . . .
this great gaggle of geese
the brown couple always in front
then all the white ones
the rear is taken by an unlikely pair
they don't look like any of the others
i see them in this formation
all the time
i head back
ah: around the bend
there's a bernese mountain dog
behind wrought iron gates
i call "hey bubby"
he bounces over
i know he wishes he could
break out and go
bike riding with me
then i see the far side gang
a bunch of bulls in the field on the other side of the road
they're a curious crew
looking at me from behind
the trees
oh. it sucks.
when i think of those
living
where bullets fly
and blood flows
where birds and rivers should be
it sucks.
that we are so simple minded
caught in the same traps
over and over again.
those of us, affluent YES YOU, ME
and so many of us haven't a clue how
our decisions impact
no. how our decisions dictate the circumstances
of third world brothers and sisters
we buy plastic or cars and wipe out frogs. leave polar bears to drown.
trees caught in our treason. it sucks.
credit card companies raise rates.
didn't we vote to stop this shit?
it sucks.
we. who the fuck are we anyway?
it sucks. because i don't know.
i live day-to-day
i count one-by-one
i live like tomorrow will be blown up
for a long time, i lived in unrest
years of sleep without rest
then i decided: i'm not part of "we"
i'm here. crying alone.
riding my bike, looking for joy
amidst the blood baths
around me
it sucks. because i love life.
living things. all of them.
and i don't know how to make it better
for "we"
so i follow my own path.
fuck democrats. fuck health insurance.
fuck an energy bill that has nothing to do with
the birds i've come to love.
the tiny spiders brilliant every day, weaving webs
the snails leaving trails of silver
fuck the indoctrinated. and conventional thinkers.
fuck the "hidden rating" givers
and being banned
fuck the killers,
liars, and infected religious whackos
fuck the politicians like
the sagging limp Sanford... an agonizing exercise
of a fool. or maybe one who's been fooled.
coming to life too late
in a bitter comedy of hypocrisy . . .
it sucks. that this world isn't perfect.