Dryer
the Dryer rrrrrrrrrrrumbles
not the one in the next room
the invisible one
entangled in society
it’s sort of like the “Combine”
only, the Dryer tosses us around
throws curve after curve into life
trying to dry our heart up
trying to squeeze the feeling out of us
but I REFUSE TO DRY
I refuse to believe that apathy is the way
it’s humane to care for others
so why are they trying to make us not care?
are we inhuman?
are these things I feel so wrong?
they can’t be inhuman
why would I act like a human in everything else
so why am I “less than you”?
why do I get thrown in the Dryer?
when you
…
but you do get thrown in the Dryer
don’t you?
we all do
and we need to get rid of our lint
so we either create a melting pot
or go to war
but either way
we’re still in warfare
cause warfare isn’t just shooting at each other
with guns
it’s shooting at each other with anything
words, looks, insults, or
love
but we don’t need to create lint warfare
we don’t even need to create lint
so turn off the Dryer
get out and
be true to yourself Actual Reality: Act Up, Don’t Fight
This poem began as the second half of Dryer, but they didn't quite flow, so I expanded each half into a separate poem
if we all listened to ourselves
nobody would go to war
we would see the enemy’s humanity
and not have the heart to kill them
oh, sorry, Freudian slip
we would have the heart not to kill them
because our hearts would be intact
but instead,
we send “our boys” to Iraq
then fight over bringing them back
we start a war at home by going to war over there
we don’t even have the heart to listen nicely to each other
instead, forgetting about the lives lost
politicians argue about money, strategy,
and the lies that started this war
but when the world is at war
how can a war “start”?
it’s just an escalation of the forever war
that cold war no one knows exists
the war that says
I am right and you are wrong
that’s the war we need to end
so, face Actual Reality
wake up and love the enemy Apathy
I feel the need to put a disclaimer on this poem. It was written in a pure, emotional mindset, and is an exaggerated and overly pessimistic appraisal of my father, who is, in reality, a very good man who prefers to take care of his own personal sphere.
My father lives in apathy
he cares about the people in his life
but he doesn’t care about the world around him
doesn’t act up
doesn’t speak out
I say I understand…
but I don’t
I don’t see how,
when we are ruining the planet
when we are killing “for democracy,”
how he can sit back
say I don’t have an interest in politics
it doesn’t affect me personally
It doesn’t affect you personally?
excuse me?
if people are being killed
in the name of my country
the place which calls me its citizen
that affects me
That’s why we have democracy
even if it doesn’t always work
we can at least try to create change
It’s people like you
who think their voice is unimportant
who make the rest of our voices unimportant
When I see something wrong
I want to be able to change it
but if enough people don’t demand change
it doesn’t happen
People are standing up
calling for change
but my dad still isn’t one of them
Change is being demanded
politicians remind us of “the fierce urgency of now”
youth listen to those politicians
people feel like there is hope
a homeless man asks not for coins
but for change…
and still my father sits
crosslegged in his closet
meditating
he says that the spiritual realm is most important
but how can he truly live this?
his body is still rooted deep in the earthly realm
It isn’t possible to live in the world,
with out exchanging knowledge with it
learning of war,
learning of poverty,
learning of injustice,
it makes me take a stand
he just meditates
