poem about modern living

My new job has me living near the mall, 
so about once a week I go over there 
whether I really need anything or not. 
Usually it's Tuesday for some reason. 

It's not high art by any real standard, 
but you're bound to find something interesting 
if you walk around for more than a minute. 

Last week there were some high school girls 
who'd invented a new form of protest, 
wearing skateboarder's clothes and sexy eye-liner, 
holding signs that demanded Resurrect Janis Joplin ! 

Or you'll see two kids playing catch with a smoke grenade 
while their dads, sentimental and leisurely, go shopping 
for chainsaws and new sneakers and coffeemachines. 

Modern living definitely has its advantages. There are 
no more children under ten being packed into factories 
and breathing awful air to polish shellcasings. In another 
hundred years they might eradicate disease entirely. 
You have to visualize the future. I've been working on this 
pro-scaled model of a whaling ship in my free time. 
You have to cover it with a tarp at night in case it rains. 




**** 

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