This One Goes Out to the Future

in which it will be impossible 
to get 
what is now immediate. 

in which everyone discovers
they’re next in line. 

for disenfranchisement. 
for de-activation. 
for dying horribly in an 
unimaginable way. 

it doesn’t have to be this way, 
but clearly knowing the secret isn’t enough. 

wonder how time will betray 
this desire to control outcome. 

look at us wishing on a world
that remains unmoved by 
all the right words. 

what we’ve learned 
could make a utopia
                       hasn’t changed the way

       we punch each other 
       for not 
       enabling the worst in us. 

we resigned attitude 
towards the collateral
of this chaos
we perpetuate in the name of. 

we think 
            as if the planet wants to know first 
                                               how you wanna extinct? 

keep living in everyone’s favorite 
einstein quote. 

painting the house a different color
isn’t storm prevention. 

when the planet comes for us, 
it will be because 
of what we did to each other 

when we thought we weren’t. 

when we were 
fussing with the perfection 
of seeming. 

when we decided 
that it’s better to look the part 
than earn the way. 

Credit

From Well Played (Not a Cult, 2020) by Beau Sia. Copyright © 2020 by Beau Sia. Used with the permission of the publisher.