To Wake You

Did anybody ever come to you
To wake you, out of this unending sleep?
I'm here to stretch your mind. The dismal sheep
Want us to think they've thought everything through,
But they're just following a dream that grew
Until it covered up their eyes that weep
With longing for the real world. This is deep,
Dramatic, dark, traumatic, troubling, true.

It's easy to believe a fantasy,
But hard to face the truth, the stark result
Of all those pointless dreams, a perfect cult.
But you were sleeping, so they called on me
To shake your shoulders briskly, maybe see
If you could face things like a real adult.

Tech Talk

I thought about using half-rhymes, not these
Exact, full rhymes, not bunk and swank and pink,
Not other and together. It's a kink,
To stick to iambs, no extremities
Like amphibrachs and dactyls, congeries
Of disconnected mouth sounds, on the brink
Of madness. Nor will I, with a bright wink,
Turn from pentameter with a soft wheeze.

Not this time. I will end as I began,
The little variations telling much.
The big ones go too far, a rhythmic crutch
I will not lean on. I'm a better man
Than that, a better poet. There's no plan
For change, nowhere to go, no breeze to touch.

Spin Is Easy

It's marketing, that's all. They say the sun
Will go out in about five billion years,
So we should all be careful with our tears.
The oceans will dry up, and everyone,
Including you, will surely be undone.
They're trying to play havoc with your fears,
Exploiting nightmares as disaster nears,
But spin is easy, darlings. Don't be spun.

Tell anyone who asks you're not afraid,
Not of the dark, not of the obelisks
That rumble past you, and not of the risks
They warned about. Your worst fears were allayed
By clowns and feral cats, all badly spayed.
Pay no attention to the spinning disks.