Pony Up

Exploding
For lack of a better word
Within the realm of capitalism
Over stretched
Over indulged
Over it

Acts of kindness
Have no place here
Yet I see them happening
All over the place
And it can make you sick
If you don't understand why

I am drowning
For lack of better words
In my job
As with anything else
I am over extended
Over invested
Bound and gagged
The red tape shoved down my throat
And now I must choke

Beautiful reminders
Like anniversaries
With flowers
And bacon
With 40% less fat
Have no place in the world of commerce
They just get in the way
A nuisance one must try to garnish
With as much admiration as one can
While trying to remember 500 names and events
All the things that one could hope to find
When returning from vacation
Or social celebration

Not as bad as drought
Famine
Flood
Locusts
Other plagues that lurk in the soil
Waiting to me exposed
When some farmer digs his plow too deep
Expecting to find gold
Getting greedy
Milking the John Deere
For peanut oil
Letting it soothe the cracking hands
That mimic the great divide
Dried up rivers
Silty colors where the water once was
Betting on a stock that can't gallop
Investing in a horse that will never return

And all of us must pony up
Since these are the days
When Solomon seeks another wife
And your village has the sweetest corn
Billboards of cheerleaders praying to a bald Jesus
Stickers and hub cap covers proving that everything is real estate
As far as the eye can see
And everything looks better with a paint job
Even the stock ticker
John Deere
Gnarled old toes
Silences the raging heartbeat
Calms the nerves
Takes pressure off the eyes
--
8/6/08

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