Welcome to the Future

Welcome to the Future -

Clean energy for all!

Except when it's 117 in July,

And the tech on the phone can barely speak English;

And it's not even your own damn car,

And there's no shade,

And the asphalt reflects the heat,

And you just want to go home.

You've spent precious minutes trying to find

A charging station - the dream of one on every corner?

Still a dream.

You're trying not to cry in frustration and you're

Sweating in places you never knew were there,

And you're getting put on hold again

And again

And again.

And when the tech finally, remotely, fixes the issue,

And you're finally charging the car of

Clean energy and lies,

You walk to a coffee shop nearby,

Still sweating through your black tshirt,

Just to pay $8 for a chai and the barista

With purple hair and lashes like caterpillars

Sweeps a judgmental glance at the sweat running

Down your skin.

And you want nothing more to disappear into total

Oblivion.

Hopefully oblivion has options for an ice bath.

So you sit in the coffee shop,

Hunched in a corner, trying not to look sweaty,

And muse about

The Weather,

Clean Energy,

$8 lattes,

And your own regular car,

Parked safely at home.

And you don't care what people say about it:

Dinosaur,

Gas Guzzler,

Earth-Killer.

And you take a sip of your stupidly expensive

Chai, and you think,

Maybe the way things are aren't so bad.

Maybe I like the old ways.

Maybe the Future can take its time.

Clean energy is a noble ambition -

Bringing the future to the masses;

But I'm content here,

In the past,

With my fossil fuels and

Gas stations on every corner,

Because it's familiar

And easy

And when it's 117,

In July,

In the sun,

In a hot parking lot,

In tears,

Easy is all I want.