Modern Society Numbs Us

Resist it.
Market coercion
short-circuits our instincts.

The burden weighs heavy.
Enough submersion in depression,
and you lose perspective.

Physical overexertion
for permanance
worsens the hurt of worth's desertion.

A hit of dopamine
solves everything. No wonder
the immersed in dirt
flirt with church, hotlines,
and Narc Anon meetings
hoping to hug a stranger.

It’s impersonal to bring up politics,
but plenty of people
love talking about the weather.

It’s been forever
since I got any air.
It’s so nice out today.

What's that invisible pressure?
Fretful fists
twist into pretzels
because my head’s full
of regretful,
dreadful moments.

Whose isn’t?

This magazine says
the cerebral centers our perspective.
Does that help?

It also says that sometimes,
harmony stirs in the parables
of unknown forces.

Caffeine or nicotine. Gasoline.
I hope I get to hold the door
for someone today.

Walmart is the new town square.
Maybe the real effect
on our heads is this:

we seek a fix, and we miss it.
We fidget in lines,
thinking about life.

That old hunter-gatherer spirit
still visits
and we resist it.