A little poetry to mix things up...

Thoughts On Narcissism

Apples lined up,
gleaming in rows,
bygone stars in a wax museum,
believably authentic to the ignorant eye.
There are oranges
shipped 3000 miles from Florida.
dimpled little navels,
sweet tangerines,
sunning themselves in the fluorescent lights,
blissfully unaware that the truck that brought them
was belching toxic fumes along the way.
Ahh, but wait.
Leave that air-conditioned tomb.

With just the slightest bit of care and effort and sacrifice
(however un-American that may be)
you could stop trampling and destroying.
Learn the way, back
to the things we used to know
just 50 years ago,
before refrigerated box cars
and the blatant squandering of our resources.

And now for the typical response:
Why does it matter?
Why should I have to wait to have what I want, when I want it?
I am most important.
I am the dominant species.
The earth will repeatedly crack itself open like an egg
to give me whatever I hunger for.

These are the thoughts
that plant themselves in my mind
as I bury my hands in the soil
of my garden, struggling
to make sense
of this world,
too consumed with convenience
to care.

-SMS