Society's Demise

Stilted rasps in darkened halls
Free-range pain, corporate thralls
Dark diamond hearts fear return
Pit wasted fools writhe and burn

Ideas once aloft, prim and new
Beliefs bright, fresh, glinted dew
Run through muck, disdain, scorn
Now lie wicked, broken, shorn

Nobility lost, no man’s gain
Sensibility shattered, splintered, insane
Where lies peace and love and hope?
Nothing remains but trial and cope…

I get comments on some of my poetry that it is too dark and too depressing. Yet, I've read poetry like The Hollow Men by T. S. Elliot more somber and dark than I write. There are times I feel poetry is the only venue to deliver dark, brooding writing. I know what I write is nowhere near Elliot, but that should not preclude me from writing in the darker areas of life.

Another critique of similar poems to Society's Demise is that I do not include enough specific, tangible imagery. In Elliot's The Hollow Men, he includes such lines as "rats feet on glass" and "headpieces filled with straw". Great imagery and writing I happen to envy at times.

That said, I feel there is (or should be) a place for 'big picture' poetry that delves into concepts and emotions without attempting to anchor it to physical life. Society's Demise was born out of the insipid insanity of our corporate greed run amuck in the United States today.

The "free range pain, corporate thralls" line is addressing the state of corporate employees today that are not much more than slaves to the machines that govern them. Once employees reach a certain level, it appears the 'dark' side of corporate politics and money destroy their sense of right and wrong. Their hearts become disconnected from the levels they once populated and many struggle with the pressures of moving up the ladder to monetary success.

They do not begin this way, of course. Most enter the work force with grand notions of making this a better world, but once they live in the greed and political garbage, they are beaten down and their ideals get lost. This is nothing new. Yes, the theme has been addressed before.

I see so many people every day who have lost their motivation, their will to dream and pursue those dreams. This poem is an observation of these souls, and a statement on what we value as humans. Corporate greed is no longer hidden by public relations people working overtime. The greed comes out each day with each new underhanded deal that pads the pockets of people who love only money and power.

Society's Demise is a statement of how I feel at times looking at the world I live in. My hope is that someone who reads this sees the same thing (otherwise I'm loony). The view is overarching, a view that can easily possess its viewpoint anywhere in the world. The poem is meant to be a broad visual of our state-of-the-world today.

Please let me know if I'm crazy...