Once Upon A Time…

By Andrew R. Duckworth

Life had magic once,
Before every podcast
Lamented the coming
Of the end of the world-
Before every news anchor
Labeled all dissenting voices
Conspiracy theorists-
Before those with power
Decided to wield it
Against the very ones
Who gave it to them.

Perhaps I have gotten
Too accustomed to the new order,
Too complacent.
Life is all too predictable now,
Seeing a chapter ahead
While talking heads
Play dumb and, worse,
Innocent.
What is on display
For all to see,
They deny
As if we were blind.

The lies are tiring,
Recycled as if we might
Forget that they’ve
Been used before.
Television has become
The great circus.
Be careful of the
Magician’s disappearing act,
And remember that it is all
Smoke and mirrors.
The weeds in the garden
Outnumber the healthy fruit.
Be careful not to get tangled
And remember that weeds smother.

I mourn for this generation,
Thinking the world around
Them normal.
But I remember a childhood
Of little worry,
Playing in the backyard
With the neighbor
From down the street,
Our imaginations expanding
The boundaries of that small town.
And what is there today
But a small screen
That fits in the pocket?
We were ignorant of the world,
But we were innocent of it.
The world wasn’t at our fingertips.
We were not zombified
By mindlessness.
It was well into my adult years
That the screen became sacred,
The god of this generation,
When simply walking became
A chore without our eyes
Being mesmerized.

Will we go back to the ways
Of imagination’s magic,
Or will we become
The dead and dumb?