Advancement
The Industrial Revolution
built a new class,
non-landed capitalists
who nibbled away,
then ate away
at the roots of agriculture,
until factories devoured
the bulk of earning,
creating a new peerage
so far removed from the earth
they lived farther from their holdings
then the plantation aristocracy.
And men of great wealth
began to disappear from visibility,
except the great barons
hated but admired
by an envious people
deluded by democracy,
blindly believing
and encouraging their children
to lofty aspirations,
denied to almost all
because of limited ability.
Descent
Before we descend into chaos,
poverty leading to hunger,
desperation leading to crime,
there is still a modicum of hope
that the owners of our land
will relent and moderate
economic oppression,
allowing subsistence for many
expectations of abundance for some,
but some of us fear
the wealthy have illusions
of retreating to protected enclaves
when rioting and disorder
convulses a needy people
submerging into animalism
as they struggle for survival.
Precipitation
Rain falls on the city
neither gentle nor soothing
to the unappreciative
who no longer know
where they get their water,
the essential service
that we can only do without
a little longer than air.
And as we rush to work, school,
shopping, other activities,
we resent getting wet,
fume at any delays,
get overheated,
uncomfortable,
completely unaware
we once lived without shelter.
Scientific Progress
The chaos of the universe
unperceived by most
who go about affairs
unaware disaster looms,
work, play, create, invent
in the blind expectation
that nothing will interfere
with best laid plans,
comforting routines,
triumphs and defeats.
We often do not learn
pleasure is fleeting.
Those who speculate
on the meaning of existence,
ask why are we here,
examine right and wrong,
question the nature of belief,
reach arbitrary conclusions,
except certain scientists
who demonstrate proof
at a primitive level
of demonstrable facts
that make drastic changes
in day to day life
that most of us accept
without understanding.
Madness Unleashed
Insane attacks
with guns, knives, bombs,
increasing
in fraying America
yet we walk city streets
reasonably secure,
expecting
to arrive safely,
at home, school, work,
be unmolested
by a disturbed person
waiting to detonate
for whatever reason
on innocent and guilty alike.
