See… shining power!!
It’s the future, yet we still have dirt and grass.
And earthworms too; they’re wriggling through a field
In search of something more, but they won’t last
The summer, and will soon enough be killed
By radiation from an ancient sun –
A searing fate to which we all succumb.
It’s the future, and the earthworms dried to paste
On sewer grates, outside a parking lot.
Outdated billboards line this modern waste-
Land, each one shilling deals unsought.
A barren mall decays, demolished soon –
But once we thought it was the future too.
By monorail we left that ruined hell
In search of futures fit for our birthright,
To stand enchanted by their brilliant spell:
A universe of chrome and neon lights.
The station drops us by the central square.
Our minds go blank, electric chimes cascade.
The restless crowd then pushes us somewhere
While katakana marks the entryway…
Fluorescent hearts that beckon us to come;
Glass elevator rises ninety floors;
Pale bleach-stained carpet as we shuffle from
The hallway to the heaven through its doors.
We gaze upon the cityscape below;
We strip our clothes and drink to drown our shame.
Skin touches skin and then we come to know
That past the vista, all is much the same.
We have it all, amidst the hyperreal,
Yet think it not enough to sate our lust.
We found an era to call home, but still
The march of progress makes demands on us.
We search for more, until we realize what –
It’s the future, yet we’re still compelled to rut.
“Or should I write ‘nut?’ ” Tails rolls her eyes, scrawls that note in the margins, then sets the poem aside to be dealt with later.