The Wasteland

The Roads through Hell are traveled
by countless dying souls every day. They
drive at speeds of up to 90, without even
a moments thought of the big picture all
around them, or the ever-growing stench of
a helpless World as it slowly decays!

Where once beautiful lakes housed fish
and fowl extreme, toxic power-plants
now stand as dark symbols of our selfish
and self-destructive stupidity, not even
caring if our water is clean!

Majestic mountains once greeted enthusiastic
sightseers as they passed through
this land so many years ago, but now they
have been carved to the core; mangled masterpieces
of God, and will remain as such; for
we have extracted from them, in our greed,
all their precious minerals and coal!

Farms have been raped from their rightful
owners and sold at auctions or to corporations
placing the highest bid.  America's backbone
has been broken to fill the pocketbooks of
the rich; while the poor, ex-farmers scurry
about the Wasteland searching for jobs and
food in order to feed their starving kids!

The homeless have taken to the road in
search of work and will accept "mere" food
and shelter as their wages. They are provided
gutters by the government but soup kitchens
from the saviors. They will always be ruled
and eradicated by tyrants yet receive help
and pity from the sages!

The real estate empire has bought out
Mother Nature; exchanging greed and selfishness
for nothing more than a silent plea and
sorrow. In order to obtain the peace and
tranquility that all those camping trips to
the wilderness once brought, you must be willing
to buy, steal or borrow!

Teenage girls from broken homes turn tricks
for travel and sleep in the arms of strangers.
They say they have no love or understanding at
home, but is hitch-hiking blind through the Wasteland
really worth trading in all they've ever
known, for a Life? of deception, sin and danger?!

Burning cars and broken-down dreams; all
you've ever believed in, slowly falling apart
at the seams. Cities of sin filled with
filth and favor all gladly open their doors
to a brand new neighbor. 

They'll give you gold and gifts of the skin 
but when you finally wish to leave, they'll 
just laugh and put you their hellish 
merry-go-round again and again!

Religion is bought and sold for the
price of your Soul; it's the most costly
transaction you'll ever make. False prophets
are everywhere selling inner-peace for a small
fortune; but if you heed to their call, prepare
to fall. There's only one true God, all
others are fake!

There are countless starving out in the
streets, living in Hell on Earth. They
curse at everyone, including a government who 
could care less, while they humbly wait for a peaceful 
death and pray for salvation at rebirth.

A bum at a gas stop wearily asks you for
spare change. You try to ignore his situation
as you guiltily rush by with an arm full of 
food and ease into your plush car full of gas, 
then hit the road in fear and paranoia. 

Only now do you wish you would have helped him, 
but it's too late...he's out of range.

You feverishly think, "that could be me
back there if one day I lose the social
stature granted by my job". 

Out on the street without a prayer; morals, 
beliefs, and dreams shattered with one swift blow. 

You see, in order to have a conscience, you must 
be able to afford one. Without money or the correct
papers, the only way to survive is lie, cheat,
and rob! Money makes puppets of us all!!

Our strings are held by the Government
and they're always tangling us up. They
fill us full of smiles and rainbows as they
raise our taxes, go further in debt, forsake
the poor and elderly, fail to give us our rights,
granted from birth, and pour arsenic lies, with
a false smile, into our drinking cup!

Whatever happened to all those rights and
the freedom we once held so dear? We had it
the last time I checked. It must have been
misplaced or maybe even lost. I guess we
shouldn't have taken it too much for granted,
I fear!

You got it! Those days are gone! I'm
sorry, the Government no longer adheres to
the Constitution anymore. Now, They make
up the rules as They go along to fit
THEIR own needs, not ours! 

The Government: the rich; the politicians 
and corporations, now rule! 

Oh, I see, but I wish I were blind!

I write this way because politics affect
so much the way we live. The Wasteland, will
always take away from you, all that you're
not willing to give. 

It can't take your mind or soul but It knows that 
all too well...eventually you'll give BOTH up on 
your own terms and forsake the path to Salvation 
for a mindless plunge into Hell!

Out on the vast Wasteland, travelers wander about. 
They saw the Storm Clouds rising but failed to look 
them in the eye and shout. 

All we can do now is cry for the country we once knew 
and pray for the poor lost souls who slowly destroyed
it right before our eyes...just like we've always
let them do!

And somewhere out on the Wasteland, the Sun sets 
on tomorrow:

With my hand on the wheel and hum of the
motor keeping in tune with the mechanical
band, I cruise down some lonely stretch of
highway with the Sun setting beneath my
past, as I head out into the unknown...
searching for some Promised Land.

The radio blasts out tunes of ghosts.
They'll keep me going, even if they're
gone...cause they're wonderful hosts.

I pass by signs trying to sucker me in.
I'm trying to be strong but they always
seem to get you again and again.

I look out over the horizon with a tear
in my eye. Such a beautiful Country; why
does it have to die? 

We're all slowly losing the battle that so 
many fought to win. Praying for some far-fetched 
miracle in the midst of poverty and sin. 

How many times does this have to be said? Let's
stop talking and just BEGIN!!

I think of Life's lustrous illusions so
sweet, as they take me so high and sweep me
off my feet. I know it sounds crazy but
just try it...you are in for a treat.

Gotta go, I've run outta lines but we'll
talk more later when we've got the time.

Tomorrow, a new day will dawn!