step away from the vehicle

we submit ourselves to wage slavery in order to commit our children to the unsavory

in the vain hopes of them training through the competitive pre-primary-secondary-tertiary production line that tunnels straight into the factories of the forgotten far below the morbid mountains of misdirected minds

competing for golden tickets to burn out churning and burning oils and animals, oceans and jungles to line other peoples' pockets 

and that’s if they’re not broken down by the social education engine first

we measure our successes in days and nights overflowing with busywork and bureaucracies

we measure our failures in welfare cheques with strings attached to draw and quarter us down into charities

instead of the very communities that they were supposed to be uplifting

we passionately play job roulette in the hope of winning roles that won't *only* pay us to be miserable

we optimize our fad diets, ingest caffeine and pop pills

but still it takes every ounce of will we can muster just to zombie-lurch through each day

too anxious to perform properly while pretending that everything's okay

we offer ourselves up on the altars of our addictions

to pharmaceuticals or exercise or sports or games

to television and social media channels that distract and rot our brains

with sordid simulations of society, nonsense narratives obscuring futility

we'll give ourselves over to literally any kind of fantasy that might help us temporarily forget our existential pain reality

we chase down our nightmares with spirits

to drown our spirits and bring on dreamless sleep and cotton-mouth mornings

after whole lives chasing smoke through halls of mirrors we're too tired and stressed to rest

to make memories that fuel us

to write our own stories that build us

once upon a time we didn't have all of these modern inconveniences

and our society in its denial has maintained the useful lie that luddites were against technology

but in actual fact their fight was for their right to continue living their lives on their own terms

setting their own hours

spending their borrowed time on their families

constructing their communities

the original luddite rage was against the same perpetual energy consuming industrial complex machine that's held its iron grip around our necks for so long that we only remember our freedoms in advertising materials, political propaganda

and other children's tales designed to hold back the looming revolution

we've all been generationally traumatized by lifetimes of trying to keep up with the runaway gunpowder-germ-and-steel train

on foot

we’ve no time to grab our stumbling neighbors by the hand without falling behind ourselves

our breaths are short, our lungs are burning and our muscles are on fire, but we keep on running

we’ve no time to consider that this train's tracks are not a viable, reliable route to surviving our relentless race to the future

to consider that there might be alternate modes of transport that we can use to get to dust B from dust A

modes that let us ride with our soulmates and even sing along the way

we can walk, we can ride, we can slip, we can slide

just as long as we make sure to always remember the golden rule of "never go it alone"

because you don't have to do this alone.

you. don't. have. to do. this. alone.

you. don't. have. to do. this. alone.

you. don't. have. to do. this. alone.

our internalized social functioning inversions have generated mass hallucination diversions and left us wired up to implode

we inadvertently drive ourselves and our kids to either shoot up or shoot out, and then reload

everything seems to be broken, but it’s not just the compasses in our pointing fingers

you see, we blame the rich, we blame the glitch, we blame the cheat, we blame the snitch,

we blame the poor, we blame the pure, we blame the sick, we blame the cure,

we blame the company, the individual, we blame the economy, and the aboriginal,

we blame the foreigners, we blame their gods, we blame our own with their golden rods

but it doesn't matter who's at fault

because we're all full of faults

and the fixing's down to each and every one of us if we want to bring this grim storyline to a halt

the truth is there isn’t anybody who will save us but ourselves

there’s no hero in a cape, or band of plucky dwarves and elves

we need to bridge the gaping chasms of our fractured collective consciousness

pull together if we're going to reach towards redemption, rebuild our self-confidence

we need to dig ourselves out of our self-imposed prisons where we serve without a crime

even if we can only afford to do so one single disposable plastic teaspoon at a time

stop.

take a breath.

grab the first hand that you see.

help, and be helped.

there's more to life than just "you" or "me".

don't

be afraid.

try to remember why you're here.

this epic adventure began long ago

where we're headed's still not clear.

if you try to do it anyone else's way

it will be hard just to survive

so don't *ever* let anyone tell you

there's only one right way to thrive.