We
advertise, commercialize, consumerize,
supersize, downsize, computerize,
digitize, dot compromise,
televise superficial gals and guys,
so we can
fantasize, romanticize, glamorize,
tantalize, eroticize our hum drum lives.
We
monetize, industrialize, globalize,
monopolize, bureaucratize,
hire CEO’s that scandalize,
(steal $1thousand and we criminalize,
steal $1million and we penalize,
steal $1billion and we aggrandize).
We
militarize, destabilize, brutalize,
demonize, victimize,
it’s us or them dichotomize,
(that’s just how we Americanize),
elect politicians who tell us lies,
refuse to use our minds and eyes,
willingly de-democratize,
don’t ask any how’s or why’s,
do you want that with fries?
We
evangelize to Christianize
those heathen non-consumers
so as to legitimize
our greed in religious disguise.
Do we wonder why they terrorize?
Now we’ll always
fly unfriendly skies.
We
who would Wal-Martize
the earth until nothing
is left to franchise,
must realize
it’s humanity’s future we compromise.
Will our grandchildren
look back on us and despise?
Michael Baldwin is a native of Fort Worth, TX. He holds a BA in Political Science, a Masters in Library Science, and a Masters in Public Administration. He was a library administrator and professor of American Government until he wasn’t. He has been published extensively in poetry journals and anthologies. His poetry was featured on the national radio program The Romantic Hours and has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He won the Eakin Manuscript award in 2011 for his book, Scapes. He won the Morris Memorial Chapbook Award in 2012, for Counting Backward From Infinity. His book of Texas poetry, Lone Star Heart, was published by Lamar University Press in 2016. Mr. Baldwin has also published a mystery thriller novel, Murder Music, and two collections of science-fiction short stories, Passing Strange, and Surpassing Strange. Mr. Baldwin resides in Benbrook, TX.
