05/104:Urban Sprawl: The Heart Pumps Oil

Part 1

The meat of the city, well, that's in the middle -
pressing against the skin, beating out bricks and pumping
out industry.
Give us styrofoam and PVC and ultra polymers.
Help us store our food
and keep our water cold
and tuck away those pills that keep my happy.
Give us Black Clouds, but only by accident.
That's okay, really, we'd rather not be inconvenienced.
We'll attach electrodes to your sweaty face and sympathetically smile
through your cardiomyopathy;
we'll whisper and quietly beg the far away heavens for relief -
get better, don't die
(if only to supply our demand).

::chorus::

Let me sacrifice the poplars to name streets after
dead presidents
Let me pick up a piece of concrete and place it behind
my ear
Let me attach an SUV to a carriage and let me drink down
the oil
Let me spill that oil on the wings of our
metaphoric liberty.

Part 2

You play basketball in your driveway
and for each person in your family
you have 1000 square feet of space.
You each get a TV
You each get a room
You each get to eat the souls of all around you.
Welcome home and take all that you want.

The End.