Ironies and Absurdities

I can barely breathe 
through the 
poisonous fumes 
of carbon monoxide 
emitting from the 
obsolete vehicle 
I drive to the 
non-smoking 
restaurant. 

Tourists grumble 
about the heat 
in Florida 
while construction 
of another Publix 
replaces 
one hundred acres 
of nature's cooling 
trees. 

News of another captured 
and subsequently murdered 
alligator soothes 
the minds of many 
residents bent on 
denying their own 
culpability. 

Children curse 
their parents 
who allowed 
the television 
to raise their babies 
then wonder where 
they went wrong 
by sending their 
ill-equipped offspring 
to deal 
with an unfair 
and uncaring society. 

Wal-Mart and Blockbuster 
on every other corner 
bleeds the American dream 
from the life-line 
of a country 
demanding 
the world take notice 
of our great freedom 
and liberties. 

My elderly aunt 
suffers from the ravages
of Alzheimer's 
while I drive my 
cancer-riddled dog 
in my carbon monoxide 
emitting car 
to the vet 
to be released 
from his never-ending 
agony. 

I see institutions 
built for religion 
honoring
the Tibetan tradition 
in the name of 
preserving culture 
on another continent 
by the same government 
who requires 
my Tribe to submit 
a fifty page form 
requesting permission 
to have a 
pow-wow. 

In the name of justice 
a dominant people 
dictates how 
another country 
should conduct 
the business of 
a land they intend 
to export jobs to 
that will render 
their own people 
without hope 
who will wonder 
why they didn't 
vote. 

A Native American Indian 
shakes away 
the thoughts provoked 
by the question 
of the land today 
as opposed to the 
savage new world 
celebrated in the guise 
of seeking freedom 
against their 
oppressors 
in a world where today 
there are few freedoms left.

Copyright © Pamela Davison | Year Posted 2005

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