we dust exterior lives
watching
the world spin
in the palm
of those who deem
themselves worthy,
like magicians
with hidden strings
we become
the puppets
fighting for words
and not truth,
seeking vengeance
on hip thrust societies
standing ten feet
from each other
as we lose
who we are -

as if we could change,
fix,
correct,
anything to make it better
to make it matter
more than it does
but i slip
through the illusions
of a united world
watch faces change
as people become
the weapon of choice
slinging arms
with bullet tip fingers
homes destroyed
as money roots itself in fire,
jobs unsecured
men crying
women shouting

wars ravage souls,
line empty pockets
as the dying
die
and the living
falter forward, stepping
unsure
unaware
broken -
boys become men
girls women
with each
indrawn breath
like sand in the lungs -
the desert never sleeps
or does
with one eye open

heat scorches,
we use oil
to brighten tans
and fuel vehicles
each penny
costing thousands
in the end
and we wonder
where we'll finish
living on
rocky terrain
juggling lives
without care as we steal
from the poor
to feed
the rich

where's the moment
when the world
shuts down
humanity darkens
our eyes
and we stand alone
naked
fighting
for a deadened earth,
grass browned
trees sunken
flowers
dried to ashes -
we cradle our young
hold our elderly
feed from
the ground we've abused
a body filled
with toxins,
an earth spinning
like tops -

what happens when
we stop
and breathe no more
crying tearless
yelling
without voices
we stand alone
amid
billions of people,
covered
in the souls
of those who used

what happens
when we
can't differentiate
us from them
and why
does there have to be
a them
the last light diminished
we lived inside
black bubbles
colorless against
an exposed sun
we are no more,
lost inside
ideals of bigger,
badder,
better

morals forgone
emotion
becomes third class
threadbare hearts
no longer beat