Headline Poem 5/3/14 -- We Call Society

I have learned a lot about society throughout the writing-a-poem-a-day process. Most headlines, as you know, are sad, negative, and uninspiring. I have to search hard to find ones that enlighten, connect, and build us up. They are there. People want them, but they get lost in the other "stuff" that creates fear, and tears people apart, and that disconnects. Today's poem is inspired by  headlines and news as a whole, and a reminder that we owe it go ourselves and each other to take a step back and simplify and balance. 

We Call Society

We have billboards with naked women

That tempt you while you drive

And websites for

Married people who want to cheat and hide

We are told food will fill us up,

And once we're good and fat,

We are told we need a surgery to lose the weight and fast

Then prescription drugs and alcohol

To mask the pain 

and 

church memberships are on the rise

with plenty to gain

From messages of hope and rebirth

You've sinned and you're welcome here

Come in

Come in

To sit with partners and call them brothers and sisters

Here's a shrink to discuss your woes

And recall the moments of curled toes

Where you cry that you're sorry

And look down when you're done

To your phone,

The enemy, the party of one 

Where you play games and watch videos with strangers 

Only to

then go home at night

To lock your door 

and set your alarm

Because in all of this craziness

You don't feel safe,

And want to be armed 

Free to protect your property and such

As fate may have it that one night

You'll have no such luck

Fear may knock on the door 

And your life will change

Family will visit through glass 

once a week

If you're lucky,

You'll be released,

A felony will get you no where

You'll go back to the drink

And the lonely

And the rage

And before you know it

You're stuck in a cage 

We call society 

We call society