QUESTIONABLE INCENTIVES AND PREDICTABLE PATTERNS
As your imaginary couples therapist, I’m suggesting you two stay away from each other from now until the end of time. Too blunt? Hey, go smoke a blunt, chew a gummy, or smoke a bowl. You asked, and now you’ve been told. You realize I only want what’s best for you, since it’s better for the whole world if you stop deluding yourselves. Or am I imagining one of you? Welcome to the future you pushed so hard against. Slapdash, supposedly intelligent computer programs have taken over. And living in The Matrix is looking more and more like a joyride in a jalopy with faulty brakes, compared to intravenously shooting up your daily news feed on repeat. Trust me, your lack of understanding is the least of your problems. See what I’m saying? You picking up what I’m putting down? There’s going to be a whole cargo container boatload of buyer’s remorse coming down the pike, in a matter of months.
As your imaginary life coach, I’m telling you, taking a vacation from online news can save your life. Now’s the time to drive up the coast and keep on going. Now’s the time for bouts of hysterical laughter. Now’s the time not to get bogged down in inner or outer historical hysteria. Now’s the time to place your hand on your heart, and take deep breaths until the thumping rabbit in your chest calms down. I know, I know, the make-believe easy path has been ripped out from under our feet. My best advice? Stay in your bedroom slippers and black silk pajamas, walk outside, grab a coffee and a bagel while singing Nina Simone’s Feelin’ Good at the top of your lungs. On a scale of extremely annoyed to definitely going to jump off a cliff, where do you land on what’s on your plate tomorrow?
As your imaginary lawyer, I’m telling you not to pretend to be an imaginary lawyer. The economics don’t match up with the long hours. Instead, scrutinize, and official-eyes, or perhaps theorize on the benefits of upcoming social contracts and dubiously-fluid negotiations within the always changing world you inhabit. Ask yourself to handle impossibly hard questions, and verify often misunderstood quotations. Slow down, and observe the laws of nature in a city park, and change your relationship to the honesty you’re practicing with yourself. Remember, books save lives. They always have. Always will. Read whatever your nose guides you to. Especially, during this time – read a history book about your country, your state, your bioregion, the country next-door, and a country or two on the other side of the globe. See what’s been blocked by your cloudy vision for far too long. Seek clarity while it’s on backorder. Hike up a mountain trail while your legs are still ready to perambulate upwards at a moment’s notice. When you’re back home again, cook up a big pot of soup or stew, where the main ingredient is love, baby, love.
I’m putting together an eBook of my Internet Poems, Prose Poems, and Noir Prose Poems, among others types of poems. More info as this project progresses.