The old
wrinkle their brows,
wrinkle their brows,
raise their jiggling arms and shout about
Treason-the youth are corrupt-and abruptly adding accusations
-they all cheated!
Blame like a sneeze
Blame like a sneeze
spreads its tiny germ spray every which way-
They, the old,
say, the way it was in the old days,
say, the way it was in the old days,
I remember walking to school uphill both ways in the snow.
You don’t know
You don’t know
about hard work.
those blooming golden years, we feared our elders.
The old ones
tell the youth not to speak until spoken to,
tell the youth not to speak until spoken to,
and a hard days work is good for you.
The old tell tales of poverty, the great depression of souls, the cookie cutter worker.
The old warn the youth
to learn from their calluses.
to learn from their calluses.
And not act so callous or abrasive,
and then something about the bees,
being sweet and golden, sonny or honey and save your money
where your mouth is.
being sweet and golden, sonny or honey and save your money
where your mouth is.
The young are working smarter, these days.
More progress means more pleasure in so many ways.
The youth
do as they are told,
do as they are told,
attend institutions that guarantee debt and teach less interest.
The youth
learn about the old.
learn about the old.
The youth owe the old.
The youth have it made.
The youth have it made.
The youth are innovators.
The young are not industrialists or enslavers, nor fans of manual hard labor.
The young are not industrialists or enslavers, nor fans of manual hard labor.
Because it is better now.
The old made it so.
The old made it so.
How do we know?
They promised
They promised
more mines will open, and more minds will close.
And due our diligence,
And due our diligence,
they make the youth pay to clear cut seas of trees,
frack up, suck out, spill in, roll up our fit-bits and toil all over
Again.
The old learn mistakes.
The old American Dream was just a defunct memory
of manufacturing
The old American Dream was just a defunct memory
of manufacturing
*Happiness*
the old way.
the old way.
The youth capitalize on these readymades.
A.I. doesn’t cost overtime, or demand PTO.
Robots reject bonuses and all bribes or benefits,
vacations are not upgrades, but memory dumps
feel good at any age.
feel good at any age.
The youth all know,
long florescent office hours, kill creative powers.
long florescent office hours, kill creative powers.
The old said, dagnabbit, you youth with your lazy habits
and liberal use of Free Time-You’re Fired!
The youth had already quit
listening.
The old finally retired,
near blind and deaf, nearly senseless,
by thin hair and poking chin, struggled to keep up
and it made them flaming angry
about their own fragile mortality.
The youth became immune and inspired
to change old ways,
retrofit America to Be
Come Great
for the First time
in the making of History,
in the making of History,
truly tiny
by popularity vote.
Painting by Jan Steen (1625/1626–1679) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. "As the old sing, so twitter the young", c. b/w 1663-1665.
