Progress Poem by David Zvekic

Have we abandoned night?
Framed in stale aspect,
Soaring stoic above man:
Looming guardians of prosperity.
Plate glass serenity;
Hired guns and concrete.

Black gossamer strands,
Like webs (copper criss cross) , across,
Buzzing indignantly.
Sixty cycles per second:
Ionized humanity.

Security cameras
Dutifully loll,
Recording reactions.
Progress between upturned carrion
Pires of pressure treated material
Which was once alive...

A starlit sky: now flourescent.
The horned moon obscured:
Now Panasonic.
Reassurance reverbates - smog
My auditory experience will be exquisite.

Lovers' eyes on neon and lament;
Dilated pupils glaze over
In electric indifference.
Red light. Red light!
Strength in biometric ID
And moontide trash collection;

Alone in the midst of three million souls:
The hush of night suffocates;
Drowned by wailing sirens,
If I listen carefully:
Hell echoes...