We're In Times

We're in times when liars are the ones that we trust
Where our hopes feel more solid than ground
Where the wheat in the fields watch the people get flooded
and the crows help the scarecrows drown

We're in times when the choke from the aircraft above
taking tourists to selfie themselves in a slum
seems like good entertainment, a reality show
where even the zero-hour losers have won

And the nuclear clock is near midnight
and laughing, and coughing, at the rust in its gears
And it toasts Tricky Dicky and the days when the games
were of chess not of poker and the stakes were not fears

We're in times when a friend is a small plastic box
and the game is called adulation
where the aim is to score the most friends

When the smile on the screen is a message of hope
when Jesus never saves.

We're in times when the shelves are filled by magic
but the animals know all the tricks

We're in times when the future is buzzing around us
and filling the sky with invisible waves
when intelligent people are making new masters
from bits of electrical slaves.

And the sun keeps on beating its rhythm
and turning its arms at the dance
and typing a message to all of its friends
all about the blue dot that is covered with ants.

And the times are uncertain and somehow feel colder
than a past that was hopeless but holy
so perhaps we should cling to the lies with our tears
after all, we've been like that for two thousand years
and perhaps we should sing our protracted goodbyes
to a long dark yesterday

© Mark Sheeky. Permission is required for reproduction.