Common clay

Too many of us are

withering

trying in earnest

to evolve

to become more than

working class zeros

the

disenchanted

disenfranchised

defeat generation

diamonds that refuse to shine

I have seen poets, artists, masters of

the ethereal

torn from creation’s bosom

shattered on the cold foundations of

material empires

cracked under the weight of maddening

normalcy

there was life in our eyes

once

mischievous adventure, curiosity

and fathomless possibility

now we count days…hours…minutes

pushing fingers into hard ground

eyes skyward

inward

onward

youthful vigor replaced by tedium

we scrape soil from our nails

watching our dreams drift

further from shore

hope used to be

a state of mind

not a slogan

we used to be

some-bodies

some-where

where-ever

our ‘oysters’

beckoned

what-ever

we damned well

pleased to be

once bound for greatness

now hogtied to a

9-to-5

convincing ourselves

that it’s a good thing

the waxing gibbous hangs

like god’s lazy eye

casting aspersions on our

lost lot

the nowhere people

the common clay

we who tell old stories

and dirty jokes

as the world burns

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