Adrift

We will bend and we will suffer
We will close our eyes and obey
We will silence the truth tellers with our cowardice

I walk through rivers of spent syringes glowing grey white
Like the skin of the breathing corpses on either side of me
Offering the needles to their necks, the tender skin under their knuckles
Deliverers of death that will be their only grave stones

I have been evicted from my business
I have no way of making a living
I have been evicted from my home
I live in my car
Each morning I stretch painfully
Working out the arthritis
I take a whore’s bath
I put on a coat and tie from the trunk
I smear deodorant under my arms
I chase away the horror so I can survive the interview

There is hope
There is hope
There is hope

I see the same look on their faces
Every time I walk through a door
Too old
Too much of the truth to look at today
Let alone every day
I walk the long miles back to my car
The bus is expensive
There is an empty space where my car was parked
Waiting for me
Waiting for me

There is hope
There is hope
There is hope

A utility company blows up a neighborhood
To save money
It is convicted of six felonies
No one goes to jail
The fines to be levied are dropped from six hundred million to five
The company appeals
And raises its rates

We will bend and we will suffer
We will close our eyes and obey
We will silence the truth tellers with our cowardice

Chancellors at a world renowned public university
Raise their salary and raise tuition
Every year
Millions are spent on their personal security
Tax money and private donations
Are invested in private online universities
That they own majority stock in
Their president is former head of
Homeland Security
Professors are adjunct contract workers
Employees salaries are halved
Students are enslaved in debt
With no way to pay is off
Unless they code

Code and you
Eat sea urchin roe on a bed of truffle quinoa
Drink thirty year old scotch in an artisan cocktail of cucumber juice and coco puffs
Spend $500 on a pair of torn jeans
Rent a two bedroom apartment for seven grand
Ride a private bus to work
Start an app
With an angel investor
That writes a simulation of a birthday card to your grandma
Takes a picture of your dogs droppings
Delivers artisan pizza to your door
Cleans your toilet
Washes your feet
Disembowels the middle class

We will bend and we will suffer
We will close our eyes and obey
We will silence the truth tellers with our cowardice