POETRY

Thunderdome

We Don’t Need Another Hero

Photo by Frank Cone via Pexels

We don’t need another hero —
We need about one zero
zero zero zero
to save us from the hopelessness and fear —
oh, you’re thinking,
Here’s another weirdo.

You’re thinking
we just need to build some muscle.
All we need is one more two-bit hustle
in this bullshit gig economy
and we’ll be plumb and flush.
We’ll feast on pig
instead of crumbs and mush.
We’ll have benefits on top of wages,
posh digs instead of cages,
breathe big instead of always
being smothered by the dust.
All we want
is life beyond the Thunderdome.

We live the waking dream
and fish the toxic stream.
What’s a little fallout
when we’re all going all out
just to pay the rent?
What’s a little disaster
when our last cent is spent
trying to keep the master off our backs?
What’s that little crack
in the tailings pond dam?