Let Us So Virtuously Abide

and so my dear brothers let us go forth to pollute and to destroy

let us slash and let us burn, let us shop and let us drive giant vehicles all alone

let us consume without care for time everlasting, amen

let us worry not for tomorrow nor for any affairs of the future

yes, my dear brothers let us despoil, let us ruin

let us propagate our own and teach them our ways

and woe unto him who would speak a word to oppose us

verily, my dear brothers, the One True God we have created remains upon our side

let us use him to retain a strict certitude in all of our decisions

go forth my brothers, may you remain ever righteous and angry

and see only what you will in just the way you wish to see it

let us despoil and waste and remain blissfully unaware

let us ignore and rationalize, cast blind eyes and turn deaf ears

let us have no regrets and fear no retribution

let us sow wide aspersions and offend quickly at the smallest slight

let us take dominion over the plants and the animals, the water and the air

let us foul and move on, defile and leave, waste and cynically smirk

let us take our jet skis upon the water, our ATVs over the land,

our snowmobiles on the snow and our SUVs upon the highways

let us call upon the strength and morality

of the forefathers we do not know

let us extol the glories and seek guidance from

the history that we have no need to study

let us contend that our self-centered actions are necessary

for those future generations whose potentials we daily shrink

let us extol our virtues and beat upon our chests

let us trumpet those same self-evidences time and time again

let us be kind to the foreigners though they be simple and abide in darkness

remembering always that we only obey the higher authority we have created

let us reach out our hands for subsidies and dole out expensive favors

while reminding the less fortunate of their personal responsibilities

let us slickly repackage issues into sound bites using clever slogans

but demand concrete certitude of scientists before taking any action

oh, yes, my dear brothers let us recite these catechisms as one

yes, and those who are not with us are most surely our enemies

let us ape and let us parrot, let us not see lest we shame

let us take for ourselves and preach to others of the Golden Rule

If That Next War Also Cannot Be Avoided

if the next war simply cannot be avoided

then, indeed it has been well marketed and sold

if the people will not accept a war

then it must have been wisely circumvented

if the allies do not support a war

then its packaging must be slicker for those in the homeland

if the enemy continues its hostile non-aggression

preemptive defensive strikes may just set things right

if the causes of a war do not really effect the peoples lives

doctored versions of the truth might just suffice

if the young rush like violent lemmings for a chance to kill and die

they are deemed valiant, patriotic and wise before their time

if the youth should question decisions that risk their very lives

they are but callow and foolish cowards, lacking in maturity

if the war is conducted from the air and enemies die in these video games

the people will not escape crude violence in their very homes

if the country is in a time of only sluggish growth

history shows that wars breathe new life into business and commerce

if the government faces vexing issues on the domestic front

ginning up external enemies might just freeze the opposition for a while

if a people swallow all their news spun into sound bites mouthed cleverly by spin doctors

they can be spared the horror of uncertainty and the even worse pain of thinking

if a war can be packaged slickly by smooth spokesmen in the homeland

those in charge can conduct a clean and corporate-like campaign

if a war comes to pass and security becomes an issue

the people can be lied to and spied upon in secret without a second thought

if the war machine demands it

resources from all places sacred and profane must be laid down before it

if the soldiers come home crippled and unable to adjust

they may be warehoused and hidden until they are forgotten

if we attack a place a third of our people cannot find upon a map

then have we, just perhaps, grown lazy, careless, stupid and quite foolish

if God directs us to spend staggering sums against some faceless enemy

it becomes easier to stand by while millions die quietly of neglected diseases

if a war requires well-planned military as well as marketing campaigns

certainly any given opponent can be demonized as a group of child-eating heathens

if those who kill from far above by pushing buttons are hailed as heroes

maybe we should ask - To what end our sanity has been forsaken?

if a suicidal enemy strikes without an army at quietly sleeping people

perhaps it's time to actually look for the source of this evil

if events on the ground do not follow the script we have set have set so boldly forth

we can continue with our own parts and the audience may not know, for a while

if the press should immorally dwell upon the killing, maiming and destruction

we can fabricate our own dispatches and pay to have them printed

if it is said that a war can be paid for with the resources of the conquered land

it is easy to ignore all the other enemies who possess nothing that we need

if we can make up a policy to hide the dead and obscure the grisly details

it will make it easier to call for sharp increases to already unimaginable defense funding

if we frame the debate as strong heroes against backsliding cowards

domestic opposition will be reduced to the stuttering of the marginalized

if we continuously label a universally deplored invasion as a great liberation

all of our propaganda will echo with freedom’s brave, true ring

if we consistently forge a non-existent link between our goals and terrorism

the polls will indicate their rising acceptance of our works of political fiction

if our campaign is ill-conceived, poorly-executed and bogs us down in civil war

to surrender would betray the honor of all of those we have foolishly sacrificed so far...

Bleeding Heart Coward

I changed my opinion on another important issue again, not too very long ago

I think I might be a gutless wonder who would have us blindly cut and run

Flag burning does not upset me as much as I know in my heart that it should

For some shameful reason, gay marriage does not loom large on my radar

I eat a lot of vegetables and fruit so I probably don’t think quite straight

Sipping green tea instead of Big Gulps has destroyed my masculinity

My hybrid seems real quiet and I don’t even want a hotrod muffler to crank it up

I never even thought of not paying off my credit card bill on time every month

The mere noise of our putative progress perturbs my squishy thinking

I don’t even own a single gasoline-powered form of so-called outdoor recreation

I admit I waste my time, space and energy trying to help out - by foolishly recycling

I really haven’t searched much, at all, for my very own personal Savior to accept

I want people to be nicer to the cows and pigs, but abortion does not inspire me

I foolishly spend more on food marked organic, whatever that word might mean

I suffer from these fantasies about slashing money from our dEfense budget

It even seems to me a tiny hatchback carries groceries more easily than a giant pickup

I often find it difficult to stand by old decisions when I am faced with newer facts

I just can’t escape the delusion that I really don’t have any choice in healthcare

I don’t celebrate my freedom by blowing up things built just to make a lot of bright noise

I, too, interpret my resigned silence as a sign of contemptibly weak and passive acceptance

I often must suspend belief and cannot make a decision due to lack of certainty

I am too frightened to go and kill civilians or be killed by invisible terrorists

Sometimes I get wishy-washy and confused over which one true god is on whose side

I am more concerned with clean air and water than the ten commandments

My thinking has grown fuzzy from considering too many facts and opinions

I guess I really cannot do the math because I can’t ignore so many variables

The pointless carnage makes me ill but still, I’d like for us to see the dead from both sides

I am willing to give them birth control rather than building outsourced prisons

I’m not fat or hypertensive and maybe that’s why I don’t hate the heathens

I don’t happen to believe that a sustainable lifestyle is a threat to my testosterone level

I often try to get out of the way of other drivers who seem to be in a real hurry

I am happy to put the old and/or discontinued back into useful service

I flip-flop among relativistic versions of the everlasting truth

I whimper with trepidation that my beliefs are not handed down from their heaven

I am afraid to chainsaw the remaining forests and drain off all the unproductive wetlands

I often waste time fretting foolishly about overpopulation and habitat destruction

I fear the smart bullets of the men with laser helmets and heavy combat boots

I’m not sure why, but I think I might have reason to worry over my loss of privacy

Quite often I prefer lentil or pea soup to tortured factory beef

I find it difficult to take on evangelical conviction and hard to believe official policy

NASCAR, pro football and Harleys are not among my entertainment favorites

I do not celebrate my newest leased car with overpriced drinks and dinner

I admit that I think it’s just wrong to spend more on weapons than all the other lands combined

I’m not looking for a place in any cemetery much less the honor of Arlington

Suits and ties and project plans and corporate policies seem vainly-artificial to me

I’m frightened of drilling out what oil remains before finding any alternative

I’m too timid and bleeding heart for this Shock&Awe business of preemptive dEfense

Non-point pollution sources like huge parking lots are among the silly concerns of mine

I just don’t see those great new jobs replacing all the off-shored for bonuses positions

I wonder about kids who do not learn, yet do not have time to be children

I wish I, too, could let go of the boreal toads, spotted owls and snail darters

I take little pride in our military strength and do not wish to be the world’s sheriff

I admire dedicated nurses and firefighters but lack trust for greedy developers and lobbyists

I have a recurring vision of an oncoming dark age, should we even survive our merry way there

I lack the stomach for dropping laser-guided bombs on targets I only see on a touchscreen

I am a coward but I would grab a torch and pitchfork to help hang the lawyers

I am against twisting and silencing science to suit a profit-driven, donor industry agenda

My regime would not encourage gambling, subsidize tobacco or promote guzzling gasoline

Foolishly, I worry more about our methods and effects than grabbing all I can, as fast as I can

Timidly from beneath a rock I squeak weakly at the thunderous passing herd

They laugh at me from their SUVs in my beat up old japanese economy car

The clerks shake their heads in disbelief as we reuse tattered grocery bags

I am afraid to refinance my credit card with the vaporous equity from my home

As they say, my squishy agenda has little benefit but costs lots of jobs and far too much money

The trucks downshift noisily and blow smoke as they sneeringly blow by me on my bicycle

Whole families laugh when they make the waves that rock our small canoes

Sadly, it makes no sense to me to drive a 3 ton diesel over to the mall

A small shrill inner voice keeps telling me that Ethanol won’t really help us at all

I selfishly fear for my own rights as we deal with those unlawful combatants

Shortsightedly, I detest abandoned mining sites that resemble old war zones

I catch myself chuckling over this whole Traditional Family Values ad campaign

Why, I even waste time fretting over disappearing frogs and the loss of our songbirds

I foolishly ask what will Jesus say when we leave behind only debts and destruction

They brush me back with their cars as I wimpily walk alongside their roads

I suffer a delusion that agricultural conglomerates are really not our good stewards

They pity us for cashing in those coupons and then cooking meals at home

I whisper that free enterprise need not just reduce to a greed-centric Social Darwinism

I squeak that human numbers far exceed capacity and will soon be corrected naturally

I fear that I would lose my mind should I entrust my soul to Jesus

I waste time poring over maps and considering faroff places that I may never visit

Marketeers despise us and quickly write us off in front of their esteemed investors

I have foolishly determined not to pay a penny to any oily funeral home director

I talk about my economic better’s behind their backs because they do not look me in the eye

Alas, those repeatedly manicured, watered, fertilized & poisoned lawns seem a silly waste of time

I shamefully admit I prefer a short walk rather than a long ride on a noisy ATV

I waste time taking a deep breath with my eyes closed, listening to the gentle rain

I would need powerful drugs to make cookie-cutter convenience stores look like progress

My sandals look weak and stupid but they keep my feet cool & healthy in the summer

I do not share the hate and fear of those whose lands my fellow citizens cannot even find on a map

Sadly, I won’t be charging a facelift, getting botoxed or painting over all my gray

Salads and cereals fill my timid stomach just as well as tubed hamburg and hydrolyzed chips

I suffer a delusion that animals have as many rights and as much soul as, we the people

We remain at home on weekends as others grimly pursue their angry wreckreation

I wander the roadless lands that they contend are inaccessible and non-productive

We are the despised deadbeats who pay off their credit cards every month

Timidly, I second-guess the policies I quietly did not support in the first place

My whispered mention of the single payer healthcare system is derided in their scripted debates

The evocative cry of a wild loon means more to me than some wack cell ringtone

Our reality shows involve nature and science and not witless attention seekers

I waste time making my own bread instead of drinking their soul-free corporate beer

Laughably, I even lament the noise of our progress that forces us to all this shouting

Unbelievably, I would actually take the time and effort to bring back the stars in the night sky

Though quite properly ignored, I suggest that our 2 party system is not constitutionally enshrined

They quickly warn of jobs and money when I mention the mercury in all of our waters & kid’s brains

Childishly I pray for a certain morality to somehow infuse the enshrined greed that drives us

I even support global treaties on chemical warfare, land mines and kid’s rights that we rejected

I am a yellow quitter who never supported our pre-emptive defensive war of liberation

My half-baked ideals blind me to man’s real nature and would put good families at grave risk

I quietly mention a flat tax on emissions to the terrible scorn of tougher citizens

I actually care what my direct ancestors, the Europeans, think of us - Now isn’t that a joke

Softly, and in Spanish, I say to them you should learn to speak English if you live in this country
So you see, as a true bleeding heart coward, I conspire to a squishy & expensive socialist agenda

Breaking Ground Most Toxically

Breaking ground, creating jobs and making progress towards self-destruction

Clawing the face right off of the earth even though it has always nurtured and sustained us

Improving farmlands and meadows with apartments and convenience stores

Moving society nobly forward with bulldozers, graders and excavators

Buy out, build fast and cheap, sell them off quickly, then go do it somewhere else

Breaking ground, this phrase makes so much sense through and through

Shrubs and grasses bulldozed, trees chain-sawed and stumps dynamited

The very living soil abraded, punctured and crudely lacerated

Left open to bleed out without a second thought - into the already-polluted streams

Keep the fuck back now, this is how real men earn the beer that sustains them

Breaking ground it’s called, but it really breaks far more than that

Their belched smoke and noise pollution a mere byproduct of their rending

Their useless bluegrass merely an expensive and poisonous outdoor floor covering

The wastes they generate in so-called construction requires giant dumpsters

We use our big old 4WDs to get into the manly sty we create with our work

Smashing, shattering and breaking the ground so very apt given our lifestyle

The microbial web of life in the soil pulverized, scattered and lateralized

The ground, left naked to crack and gasp, beckons only to weeds and litter

This gospel of development a patriotic offshoot of our biblical interpretation

Take your whining, tree-hugging ass off and go try and live in them woods

Rending and ripping and tearing the ground takes noise and smoke and dust

No more homes for worms or bunnies and ain’t that just too goddamn bad

Our civilization is built upon this lawful and refined scorched earth policy

Then we break more ground for our pickled bodies in those pathetic caskets

How about this, maybe you should just get the fuck out, if you don’t like it

Turning the soil inside out, burying some litter and bringing in rolls of sod

Patriotically shattering the ecosystem with righteous, all-consuming greed

Breaking ground for the real estate speculators and corporate investors

Advancing society today via single-minded scheming to get rich by tomorrow

What the fuck you gonna’ do? Go off and live in some goddamn cave?

Tearing up and selling off the floodplains, fault zones and hurricane paths

Breaking ground on exciting new developments which all look just the same

Making flattened little squares on which the semis can plop the pre-fabs

Excreting sterile geometric wastelands and walking away with lots of money

Hiring the rough and tumble, calloused and hard-edged veterans of destruction

Saving money by cutting corners and burning and burying poisonous debris

Conquering, taming, subduing, subdividing into pathetic uniform little cells

Breaking ground in a struggle to grow rich which destroys that which had sustained us

Consecrating in our dirty clothes with wrappers, power tools and loud radios

Get out of the way or we’ll fuck you up for there’s men's work to be done here

Making ongoing, licensed, protected and sanctified war against the earth

The cunningly greedy hire the hapless Orcs to do their evil, foolish bidding

Breaking ground for the future and leaving vast wastelands for your children

Waltzing off with the big bucks to a life of tasteless, strip-mined so-called luxury

After all what are you going to do, because that’s just how progress works

Proudly pointing to jobs created for those you call the salt of the earth

Breaking ground and sipping a champagne where elk pastures disappear

Buying another ranch sold off due to taxes driven up by their speculative hype

Standing up for hands-off, local control as you move on in and buy them out

Get out of the way, this here is private property and we got a job to do

Breaking ground and overwhelming the small voice in the backs of our heads

Drawing up fairytale artist’s conceptions and surveying with Nazi precision

Calling on the hung-over to do the dirty work and checking on their progress

Corralling investors, paying off officials and complaining about government interference

We need these jobs so just you stay back away from this here equipment

Noisily fucking shit up as a bizarre Country-Western god smiles thru the dust

Sleeping well at night as a far-sighted pillar of the new west community

Breaking ground for more useless second-homes leveraged as investments

Step aside of the excavator as our illegal workers enforce traditional values

We’re looking for an excuse to violence and it may as well be a treehugger

Wise out-of-state developers will bring us local control, jobs and progress at long last

Breaking ground with all the pride taken in a Weapon of Mass Destruction

Cashing in on their major selling points even while destroying them, and then moving on

Looking back with pity on the sad state of your once-proud droppings

I drive this truck 70 miles a day cause I cain’t afford to live where I work

Crudely joking and laughing hoarsely to fill the long and empty working days

Driving potential buyers around and remembering their names all afternoon

Moving our country forward as a bloody but flag-draped jesus nods and points the ways

Let the stupid tree huggers come in later with their sissy shrubs and flowers

Hey, listen, we just don’t give a fuck where this runoff goes

Breaking ground in an ideal realization of our very best from deep down inside

Breaking ground as it grows ever hotter, dustier, noisier and more senseless

Bless us oh lord for these thy gifts which we are about to crudely mutilate in thy name

A few more of these developments and maybe even a Wal*Mart will come in, too

But there’ll be no one to break more ground in far less than a million years

Modern Tribal Wisdom

We drew scenes from our trances on cave walls and signed them with our handprints

We worship the flickering images all produced to relieve of us of our money & reason

We thanked the creator and the animals for their sacrifices on our behalf

We build factory slaughterhouses and raise our meat without any mercy or grace

We tried to orient ourselves in our small part of this vast cosmos

Our current set of one true gods set us apart from the earth and all its creatures

We painted ourselves with ochre in patterns derived from mother nature

We encase ourselves within steel and plastic SUV cocoons while spewing toxins

We lived in caves with our dogs and guarded the fire with our lives

We are caught in their artificial cycle of electronically-induced consumption

We were small in number, often moving on, and the land restored itself behind us

We remain trapped in our own wastes by the millions in squalid, unplanned cities

We carved the salmon on the cedar and tried to find our own spirit creature

Our holidays have been disinfected by religion and co-opted by marketeers

Many of us died hunting the wooly mammoth and the giant cave bear

Injured former would-be athletes lay broken on soft couches, loudly gaining weight

We clashed with other tribes and mated with their women

We kill to demonstrate the moral superiority of our own loving & merciful god

We knew the cycles of the moon and the march of the seasons

Many among us never notice the weather until we’re forced to walk to our cars in the rain

In our potlatches we strived for status by giving away as much as we could

We pass by the homeless every day with our windows up and damn their lazy poverty

We carved totem poles that told the spirit stories of our clans

They make millions on our co-opted allegiance to empty corporate sports franchises

We solemnly left mother in the snow when she could walk no more

Grandma is drugged & abused by a variety of misfits in her warehouse nursing home

Each of us knew the history and all the legends of our ancestors and tribe

We dismiss that which happened over ten years ago as irrelevant & stupid ancient history

Our innate wastefulness was safely diluted by the fact of our small numbers

Now, we can despoil even the vast oceans and upset the very climate of the earth

We cataloged the plants for food, medicine and healing for a hundred thousand years

We pick cans off shelves by their pictures since we can’t quite read their labels

Life was hard and we knew by example that we must all die quite young

We spend billions trying hopelessly to restore a youth we wasted so long ago

We cuddled up and dreamed away the long Ice Age nights in communal shelters

We are chronically tired from working by our unwavering mechanical clocks

  

Our individual survival depended upon the success of our little group

Men sit drinking all alone in cheap, tiny rooms beneath dingy naked light bulbs

Specialized knowledge was accumulated and passed down in our arts and crafts

Disposable workers are worked long hours at degrading, low-paid tasks to profit others

Everything we tossed aside was native to the landscape, in any case

We spread our exotic toxins in far greater volumes than the earth can absorb

Leadership was recognized but assumed with humility and respect

Today’s managers scale the corporate ladder by ass kissing, sucking up and kicking down

The deformed, weak, sick and crippled quickly re-entered the spirit realm

We nurture the handicapped and rush to transform the human world in their image

We named the brilliant constellations and had stories about them all

Our lights have hidden the stars and our creation myth is old and stale

Our sturdy clothing came from things that we hunted, gathered and traded

Today we wear the identical products of massive mindless far-off wage slavery

As we wandered we often grew wet, cold, tired and very dirty

A few of us enjoy unlimited hot showers but so many lack clean drinking water & toilets

Our shamans were judged by the accuracy of their wisdom and knowledge

Advertising-controlled corporate media tells smarmy spin doctors exactly what to preach

We feasted on the sweetness of wild fruits and berries in their times

We gorge daily on sugar, salt and chemical flavorings fried up in fatty industrial oils

We forded at known safe places only when the water was not too high

We’ve channelized and sucked the diverted rivers dry after removing their sheltering trees

Everyone knew the stories of each and every member of our band

We live in a sea of strangers that tosses restlessly 24x7 just outside our locked doors

The legends we passed on required the imagination and memory of the listeners

Our entertainment is mindless, violent, sexual and created just to sell us things

The smart and the strong led the hunt and made the kills

Our generals plot from boardroom safety far away from the front lines

We marked the turning of the seasons with rites unique to our sacred places

Now time passes to the rhythm of artificial corporate retail holiday hype

We had no concept of owning any of the sacred lands we walked

Patriotic developers chop up vast parcels of that heritage to sell us little pieces of implanted dreams

Each of us could detail his lineage going back many, many generations

We cannot find on maps the places where our grandparents were supposedly born

Children grew strong in lives spent outside in the untouched & pristine surroundings

We raise our offspring indoors, drugged, chemically supplemented and nurtured electronically

Buddha Never Worked A Crowd

never stayed on message

          when talking to the troops

couldn't even mouth a sound bite

          at a phony photo-op

wouldn't earn 500 hundred times

          as much as a simple follower

never told the other pilgrims

          they must be with him or against him

never had his hair styled

          or dressed down just for the cameras

never chased a ball around in a little cart

          on an expensive moonscape of artificial green

didn't owe expensive favors

          to those who paid his way to the top

never funded greasy politicians

          to gain a seat on policy control boards

had no fancy offices or other executive perqs

          or confused an empty life with a meaningless corporate work

never watched the markets

          or bond interest rates

didn't smoke cigars with cronies

          or exchange insider tips

never clawed himself to the top

          putting knives in others backs

couldn't push a sponsored agenda

          or work a friendly crowd

never smelled of aftershave

          and owned no tailored clothes

hadn't even one new car

          nor a single second home

never slashed jobs and benefits and pensions

          to haul off another surreal & unearned bonus

couldn't pump bad stock to chumps

          while dumping all his own

never spread fear among the people

          just to quiet unfavorable revelations

didn't combine government with business

          into a cozy ruling class

had no statements for reporters

          and prepared no press releases

couldn't fly for free across the country

          to read another speech he did not write

never cast artificial doubt on the work of others

          creating more confusion just to stall for time

didn't lie awake at night

          plotting strategies against his greedy foes

had no use for fat and cheesy spokesmen

          or media damage control scenarios

never imagined himself saying

          that god was on their side

never made a corporate fortune

          lying to and stealing from investors

wouldn't call for spending cuts

          while sending wasted pork back home

didn't pay out lavish settlements

          while denying any guilt or involvement

had no phony spin doctors

          pushing hype to the crowds

couldn't disinform using bald-faced lies

          in the name of national security

never changed positions

          based upon the opinion polls

didn't create false pretexts

          to make war for natural resources

had no need for slanted position papers

          or industry think tank support

was not unable to admit to big mistakes

          did not sleep better for a blind faith in some god’s will

did not preach the rule of law even while grabbing power

          had no need of makeup during a homey video chat

was not recorded sounding stupid and transparent

          while mouthing other’s explanations

never made decisions first

          and then tried to twist up evidence to match

could not deal with big donors or true believers

          his greatest skill was not raising political contributions

did not place his career in the hands of venal strategizers

          had no need to spy upon either friend or foe

crafted no cosmetic advertising images with an eye to voting blocs

          never talked in code phrases to assuage his scowling mullahs

had no private jet in which to survey great disasters

          could not conceive of a lifetime as an elected official

never called by their first name those that he had never met

          was not posed with working people just to culture an image

did not artificially morph from foolish incompetent to elder statesman

          had no rehearsed QandA sessions made to look spontaneous

was unable to sacrifice heart and soul to his ambition

          did not have to act normal despite monumental guilt

never made war upon the earth while praying to some fuzzy heaven

Fekin’ Tree Hugger

Them trees ain’t making too much goddamn noise in the middle of the night

Don’t see them throwing butts and cans and papers all over on the ground

Not burning any fossil fuels just for fun or even for shortsighted profits

Haven’t exported any factory jobs to Malaysia as far as I can make it out

They don’t push no phony, lying rationalizations about the agenda they pursue

Don’t see it as jobs and people versus some useless, sissy, squishy environment

You won’t see them rendering all the places where they grow unfit for other life forms

Have enough sense to shelter, shade and filter the water of the rivers and the streams

Will not hire pandering lobbyists and whoring lawyers to push their greedy, shortsighted agendas

Cannot fathom the acid that’s now in the rain for which they raise their limbs to gather

Ain’t dropping more ignorant and wasteful offspring with plastic Jesus’ blessing

Haven’t caused mass extinction or global warming in their survival struggles

Fekin’ trees are so damn quiet, maybe that’s why we just cain’t trust them

Don’t whine about discrimination when they get chainsawed and bulldozed

Humbly take in our CO2 wastes and give off the oxygen that we breathe

Don’t need no expensive pollution control equipment or intrusive federal regulation

Naturally thin themselves out when they get too thick to thrive

Never made up even one of them bullshit fantasies and called it a religion

Give it up to forest fires to enrich the soil and restart their grand succession

Ain’t a greedy developer among them who gladly trades sustaining habitat for dollars

Don’t have to make no spiritual search because grace is innately of their essence

Dignified without pretension even when slashed and burned and dragged away

Never filled with pride, anger, frustration or, intoxicating beverages

Won’t be caught dumping toxic wastes and then declaring bankruptcy

Ain’t never been accused of financing their survival struggle with unpaid credit cards

Don’t have to leave a place after a while because they have fouled it so badly

Won’t belittle our puny efforts or cast us as girlish, weak and liberal

Cannot invent and do not believe but are able to adapt slowly with a steady grace

Struggle hard to survive without any false sense of privilege or righteousness

Don’t have no phony souls to lose to superstition, hate or lust or war

Never get drunk and loud and have to wake up sick and guilty

Don’t waste more than they save or take more than they can give

Can’t even dump shit all over the ground and then just waltz on off

Don’t profit from the mooching songbirds who live off them without paying any rent

Haven’t heard them whining for subsidies while preaching about free trade

Probably be around yet another 65 million years, once we're gone again