Youth

I take comfort in Earth being in such fine shape,

From mountain to river, from insect to ape.

Utopia, here? It's come to fruition:

Harmony, love and free school tuition.

I take comfort in knowing the world will go green,

In trusting politicians to say what they mean,

In seeing them promise and wave and smile,

And knowing corruption is ousted at trial.

I take comfort in knowing they represent all,

Skin black, white or orange, hands normal or small.

Their job is so thankless, their families suffer,

Forced to rely on bribes as a buffer.

The world's getting hotter, summer's so nice,

A handsome reward for the melting of ice,

So comfort I take from a day in the sun,

Let's keep burning oil until there is none.

I take comfort my landlord provides me a house,

Well-maintained and fair priced and with just the one mouse.

Rent costs are stable so I can afford

A house of my own, built of brick or cardboard.

I take comfort in having this freedom to work,

For such fair reward we shall never shirk,

Because we know while we graft and toil and labor,

Our boss works much harder than me and my neighbor.

Companies crank their prices up high,

And deservedly so, let's shoot for the sky!

Because comfort I take in that well-known truth:

The wealth trickles down and will soon coat the youth.

And until that time we can unionize,

Our employment assured with a fair compromise.

Such comfort I take with the news on our side,

My boss and his too, all along for the ride.

And should the talks fail and things escalate,

I take comfort the police are there to placate;

With reasonable arms and a measured hand,

Helping the people lest protest be banned.

Transparency, scrutiny and only the highest

Standards for news channels staying unbiased.

Comfort I take that my parents will view

The daily affairs sans political skew.

I take comfort all races and genders are equal,

Orientation be damned, are we not all people?

Equivalent rights, opportunity galore,

I sleep easy assured we could not ask for more.

War? What war? A mere thing of the past,

We all get along, forget color or caste.

I take comfort in knowing the military disbanded,

Quite unlike the days when it only expanded.

So, yes.

I take comfort

In dreams

And whimsy,

Illusions so thin,

So threadbare and flimsy,

They shatter like glass at day's slightest touch,

The cold light of morn pulls away at sleep's crutch.

I wake to the world - another heatwave!

Out the window a beggar, in need of a shave.

He's holding the Bible, he flashes a page,

Scrawled on it: "Fuck God, I just want a fair wage".

Mother Nature continues to spin in her grave,

Killed by the people who made her their slave.

Now capital rules and money is king,

Politicians don't notice birds no longer sing.

They see only profit, one more little zero,

For he with the most is proclaimed their new hero.

Striving for billions with millions spare,

Their true god will be the first trillionaire.

Old and fat are their bodies, old and frail their mind,

Not concerned with the fate of us lay humankind.

Their views are archaic, their wisdom misguided,

They're faltering now, trying poorly to hide it.

So comfort I take, in this farcical world,

Tucked up in bed where my children lay curled,

In seeing their hope, their unfiltered joy,

Not clouded by profit nor political ploy.

They'll grow up in a world that will chisel and mold,

But the ambitions they have won't so easily fold.

I take comfort in the virtue of the next generation,

To rise and deny our impending damnation.

I take comfort in their nous, in their respect for the rules;

They will vote in their thousands to oust those old fools.

And when the youth of today are of an age to be crowned,

Those silly old fools will be deep underground.