Savior On The Ballot

This time, there is a savior on the ballot!
Someone to rescue us from inequality
From bigotry
From war
From backwards-thinking.
Can't you feel the winds of change?
Can't you smell the fresh air clearing out the stench of injustice?
You can't?
It isn't?
Oh, well...next time, there'll be a savior on the ballot.

This time, there is a savior on the ballot!
Someone to rescue us from so-called "progress"
From diversity
From immigrants
Or as I call them, terrorists.
Can't you see our country getting safer?
Can't you feel our country growing stronger?
No?
You can't?
Oh, well...next time, there'll be a savior on the ballot.

This time, there is a savior on the ballot!
Someone to guarantee quality education
High-paying jobs
Top-notch health care
Clean air and soil and water.
Don't you already feel smarter, richer, and healthier?
Isn't your town already the Garden Of Eden?
You don't?
It isn't?
Oh, well...next time, there'll be a savior on the ballot.

This time, there is a savior on the ballot!
Someone to rescue us from division
And find the means between extremes
And value practicality over prejudice
And democracy over demagoguery.
Don't you see us uniting already?
Coming together in the name of peace, love, and harmony?
No?
You don't?
Oh, well...next time, there'll be a savior on the ballot.

This time, there is a savior on the ballot...

Last Moves

One by one, I watch pillars fall
Until I have no support at all.
Another after another, I watch bridges burn
No new destination; no way to return.

Piece by piece, puzzles come apart
And I lumber like a workhorse without a cart.
Ray after ray, the sun's blinding light
Illuminates how much we've all lost sight.

Drop by drop, I see tears from the clouds
But somehow, my umbrella feels more like a shroud.
Malady after malady, we turn health into hell
Until not even heaven's residents feel well.

Flicker by flicker, the stars all disappear
And the dark we've created leaves us all in fear.
Alarm after alarm points six feet underground
But we cover our ears when each alarm sounds.

Challenge by challenge, we remain static
So instead of the vanguard, we dwell in the attic.
Denial after denial, I no longer ask why
Too young, too ready, too eager to die.

Automaton

Go through the motions
According to the program
Do what you've been conditioned to do
Like walking or talking or taking a shot of whisky
Make that a double while you're at it

And be the automaton
The brainless machine
Masquerading as nature's creation
While you act and react but never stop to think
Is there anything more to you than this?

Open up your mouth and spew nonsense
As long as what comes out are actual words
Open up your mouth and insert a glass of wine
And another and another and as much as you can stand

And be the automaton
The mindless device
Pretending to be made of flesh and bone
While you do, one thing you never do is stop to consider
What are you if nothing more than this?

Grab another bottle of beer
Drop the bottle, spill the beer
How did you even manage to open it?
Oh, I forgot: you're not human
You're a machine
In a condition only a human could know

Don't be an automaton
A soulless contraption
When we know you have a soul and a heart
For you cannot fool us as you make a fool of yourself
There is too much more to you than this.

Special

You're so unique!
You're so uniquely mundane.
Ripped from the pages of every textbook
Believing you are unconventional.

You're so brilliant!
You're so brilliantly stupid.
Your mind simple and narrow like a bamboo skewer
Believing you deserve not to be skewered.

You care so damn much!
You care so damn much about your ego.
You own opinions, your own ideas, your own experiences
Believing you care for the sake of caring.

You're such a good person!
You're so good at being a bad person.
Standing for all the right things in all the wrong ways
Believing you're so damned compassionate.

You're so fucking special!
Your smile lights up the solar eclipse!
Your voice grants hearing to the deaf!
Your armpits smell like lilacs!
You're so fucking special, I just can't stand you.