Darkest Surrealism

This was written at the height of the Occupation movement. I was struck by the absurdity of the antics of holiday shoppers juxtapositioned against footage of demonstrators being attacked by police.

Author's Note

Ques are formed—see blocks encircled
Streets are lined—temples surrounded
The worshippers come!
Mouths drooling for the annual orgy
The gala of Black Friday
They mob the chapels of capitalism
Cathedrals raised to the gods
Of corporate greed

All these good little producer consumers
They’ve forgotten so much
Last week, this week, just yesterday
Activists, students, poets
Beaten—peppersprayed
For speaking their minds
Tortured, arrested, even killed
For holding on
To their basic human rights

Jingle bells—run to the malls
All you mindless sheep
Jingle bells—deck those halls
The future is quite bleak