Cloaked

Sad is this time of the demise of intellect,

They don’t have to be correct,

Their blathering oft ill-conceived.

They only need to be believed.

How do we get people to pay attention to useful and accurate information?

Can a system touting free speech find a way to combat manipulation?

News feeds filled with misinformation and blatant lies,

Which of the concepts of slander, libel, and defamation applies?

How do we combat sensationalism, distraction, and indoctrination?

Can composure, logic, and reason defeat instant gratification?

Will emotional reactions, poor decisions, and convenience pause?

Are humans as an inherently flawed species simply a lost cause?

Territorial, tribal, self-serving, instinctive,

violent, greedy, lustful, destructive.

Those inherent biological factors which prevail

Are the ones that make them doomed to fail.

Community, nation, and planet being dismantled around me.

As you view the destruction, does it not confound thee?

Plowed, drained, bulldozed, and mined,

Polluted, the air, land, and water you'll find.

Home torn apart, piece by piece,

acre by acre, they will not cease.

Action upon action from capitalist discussions,

Some meant well, but knew not the repercussions

of chasing the mirage of short-term profit.

Others gladly wore blinders as they gained off it.

What can one single person do

As the horde of billions poor Earth subdue?

Desperation begins to creep,

The slippery slope is steep.

What will time tell about these bleak days?

When 2100 arrives, what will my grandkids have to say?

Did we forsake them by not acting today?

Will anyone be left save a few strays?

What is Gen X doing to mitigate the damage inherited?

Are they making a positive difference, quite spirited?

Will the new generations focus and collaborate on health and rebirth?

Or are they simply adding insult to injury on this once green Earth?

Earth has been ransacked and polluted by the relentless horde,

Humans bent on profiteering while enveloped in discord,

Excavating tunnels yet leaving no light,

Nary a trail of breadcrumbs to guide through the night,

Careening into the darkness on an ark the shape of an orb,

All light and hope does their consumption absorb.

A species destined to be its own undoing,

I have no interest in the direction they are going.

Yet I must play my part for the sake of ones that I love.

Grasping this day's mask from a shelf high above,

Venturing forth onto the scene in a nation

and society awash in controversy and consternation.

There is no place in their society that I want to occupy

When for their own good they will not comply.

Ancestors gather, as shadows gain length,

Guide and deliver, share your great strength.

Onward I venture to tackle my tasks

Whilst none ascertain who dwells behind these masks.