We Live in a World..

we live in a world
of excuse-makers,
excuse fakers
who don't have a clue
and can't see beyond
the tip of their noses.

we live in a world
of the entitled who think
the whole world owes them
everything and flat-out expects
that everything should be
fairy lights and cotton candy.

we live in a world
that for some reason
believes that everyone lives
in a rated g fairy tale, that
everyone deserves their white knight
ending--but the truth is we do not.

we live in a world where the white hats
and the black hats are all grey,
unless of course, the wrong color
wears the wrong hat --then all
bets are off because the gang
on the bus has square wheels.

we live in a world
that still goes round and round
because no one learns or
bothers to remember history, because
it is always someone else's fault--
even a two-hundred-year-old someone.

we live in a world
where whatever is outlawed
becomes the thing to have
or do or say because people are
contrary and even the good ones
get lost in the shuffle.

we live in a world
that expects easy fixes
to ancient problems, where
people refuse to get that there is
nothing new and everything
has happened before.

we live in a world
that has fallen down
the rabbit hole and even though
the cards are all on the table
the aces think they own the deck--
and the Cheshire cat just keeps grinning.

we live in a world
that thinks the commandments
are for everyone else,
has forgotten how to be kind
because the divide between
is supported by a faulty bridge.

we live in a world
that is just that much sadder
because I an effort to be
so much more cognizant
has retreated to thinking they have
the easy fix; but they are wrong.

we live in a world
more damaging than recent memory permits,
where the trophies are all tarnished
and people have forgotten that
even silver polish requires elbow grease:
forgotten living is real work.

we live in a world
where people give lip-service
to the hurt of the day
and clamor for bandaids
made of broken promises:
and the infections are epidemic.

we live in a world
where red fights blue rather
than finding the purple, where
the rainbow is shining except
no one thinks about the rain
that must be there first.

we live in a world
with no easy fixes,
where even the strongest is broken
and people are more about
jumping on the noisiest bus
rather than taking the time to walk.

we live in a world
that has much unrealized potential,
if only the haves and the have nots
could work together instead of
playing off one against another:
there is no moving forward without it.

we live in a world
that is falling into a pit
of despair, envy, and greed
with no hand being offered
and, honestly, why should there be:
they'd only be pulled in.

we live in a world
that since time began has
fought among itself, has desired
more, always more at someone
else's expense: there is no compromise
because someone will always lose.

we live in a world
that is shattering below our feet
and bridges cannot be made
with ineffective materials thus
until we stop being selfish
there will be no going forward.

we live in a world
that can't be lawed into compliance,
because there will always be the factions
who are determined to walk on top
of the other guy if it benefits them
and that is not the way to solutions.

we live in a world
where the masses are relying
on someone else to patch us together
without it taking anything away
from what we want or think we deserve
and that is a chess game no one will win.

we live in a world
of great civilizations and history has proven
that all great empires have failed--so
I wonder what can we do differently
should we actually have the opportunity
to change because elsewise, we are doomed.

we live in a world
where all guns could be banned,
where all could be cured of being mentally ill,
where everyone could have the same
as everyone else, where we are all the same:
but would we then be happy?

we live in a world
where striving for more is in our cells,
where happiness and safety are priorities,
and yet, have not the peoples of the world
always done that: and look where
we are and what we have become.

we live in a world
that is imperfect, with people who are
imperfect living our small lives
the best we can and discovering our best
isn't and will never be good enough until
all are on the same page.

we live in a world
where the books are written in
differing doctrines and languages, where
we twist words to suit our own purposes
and never look back to that first page
except to cast blame upon the long gone.

we live in a world
where unjust things happen, where
the unthinkable happens every day
and that is a part of the human condition
as it has always been:
not even Noah was able to fix it.

we live in a world
where it is far easier to complain,
throw blame than it is to realize
or accept, perhaps, that for all the screaming
that people are never going to all agree
on anything let alone everything.

we live in a world
where ethics and morality have no
definition that suits every person, situation,
or country, so how can we come together
and fix all the impossible: we are not
computers that have preprogrammed logic.

we live in a world
where should we be programmed
it would still be by imperfect humans
thus no better than we are now, and this
would solve nothing;
so that isn't the answer.

we live in a world
where all we can try to do
is be our individual best selves
except even that is subject to interpretation
and I fear even that
wouldn't solve a thing.

we live in a world
that has major imperfections,
where words and ideals change on a dime
and for better of for worse
the world keeps on spinning--
until it doesn't anymore.

we live in a world
spinning out of control
and all our anger and all our grief
isn't accomplishing anything at all--
it just seems to get worse over time
exchanging one thing for another.

we live in a world
where things need to give,
where people need to live and let live--
which should be simple to figure out
but apparently is not
even though this is all we have got.

we live in a world
that needs to be fixed, that needs
a reboot, that needs to be put on pause
because if we don't we won't
have a world but a smoking ball of ash--
a silent sentinel to what could have been.