The Hucksters Poem by Herbert Nehrlich

They'd come at dawn on Saturday,
with plastic vats in giant trucks.
Tall men in overalls sprayed mist
onto the trees and in the grass below.

The meadow was a gathering place
where critters roamed in moonlit nights
to nibble grass and watch the stars go by.
Tonight had left a yellow, powdered haze,
all moss had changed from green to mustard hue,
they stood, in awe, some motionless, in daze
until the Sun took over watch from the old Moon.

The Heavens are a home for Demigods
whose task it is to watch the world below,
the week had gone, alarmbells sounded now
the forest had gone dead and nought would grow.

A sign stood, lonely at the meadow's edge,
it proudly flaunted modern chemistry,
enslave and conquer Nature was its pledge
all critters must be treated to be free.

The men had left, the city was their aim
folks needed to be medicated soon,
and decades passed in profit-making shame
the nights were silent, watched by the old Moon.

The Demigods observed that, over time,
no child would be exempt from bitter pills
and humans grew dependency inside.
Miss Carson, pioneer but ridiculed,
stood proud among the moneychangers' ranks,
raw greed it was that spread to all and ruled
demanding holy worship and big thanks.

The centuries raced by and man was ill
his quality of life was just veneer,
the voices of his masters, loud and shrill
were tuned to foster heathen faith and fear.
Today, we have gone down the road too far
it is not chemistry that needs to intervene
We must return to what we humans truly are,
a healthy gloss is not the same as Mister Sheen.