total economic blackout
[though i forgot about ads
on language learning apps]
[hopefully that barely counts
in the grand scheme of
telling the leadership
the country
the world
that we disagree
wholeheartedly
with what is happening
to our democracy
specifically
in minneapolis, minnesota]
we support you from afar,
midwest warriors —
keep pouring that water
around the tires;
freeze them out
in order to make
ice
melt
is there going to be a time
sometime
soon
where we look at all this newfangled technology
as so tragically
backwoods
backwards
and slow
it’s gotta be
it’s gonna happen
that’s just the way of the world
but i want to know if there was ever a time
where we looked upon the new thing
sometime
later
and felt it wasn’t as great a thing
as it was originally made out to be
there have always been
moral panics about
well, anything and everything really
when people read books too much
they weren’t paying attention
to life
and living
when people spent too much time on the phone
the connection was cheapened
music
is against
godliness
etc
etc
etc
but i feel so many people my age
are looking at the internet
not as bringing something that haunts us as a hysteria
but bringing with it actual
worse
life
living
[and it is those of us who were there in the digital trenches,
who thought the internet was the dawn of a
great new age,
who extolled the powers of social media
for keeping us in contact with people
we very likely would have lost touch with,
we are the ones having doubts
second guessing our own excitement.]
[i feel like the only comparable moment would be
a failed city/state
with a governmental system
that didn’t do
what it said it would]
[but then, wouldn’t those who wanted it
dig their heels in
harder
as the numbers and examples and proof
overwhelmed the senses;
haven’t people always clung harder to the “facts”
that are provably
wrong
with
every
moment
of
proof?]
so what age are we in?
or am i in the minority
as i sit here, annoyed with and worried about
ai
and the state of the internet in general?
but believe me when i say
i do not
want to go back to a “simpler time”
moving forward is good
often technology is great
it is the shareholders and capitalism and consumerism that’s making these things
so terrible
upon release
and as they
continue to
exist
[the vulture class just gives a bad name
to vultures]
one year ago i was so apprehensive
of the impending twenty twenty five
i wept the day of the eve
fearing the worst
not even letting myself hope for the best,
the best i could hope for
was survival
and i did survive this horrid year
[and had some lovely adventures
within it]
but i can’t close out this year without acknowledging
the lives lost
and livelihoods/health/sanity thrown away
due to the ultimate greed of
just a few
just a few
who make decisions
for the many
the many who
they don’t even care about
ceos
and presidents
and random fuckbags who like to set social media sites
on fire
for fun
should not have the choke-hold they do
on our society
and while i can complain
and condemn
i do not want to be like them
so instead i’ll say:
human beings matter
and deserve fair treatment
from the immigrant
to the trans child
to any person with darker skin than the congressional average —
being white
or male
or christian
or rich
or cis
does not make anyone better or more adept to make decisions for the rest;
for human beings contain multitudes
and each human knows what’s best for themselves
but not
for others
and i truly believe
if left to our own devices
and to our own community-based natures
we’d err on the side of righteousness
and kindness
so, even though twenty twenty six
may be filled with the same
cult leaders
and snake oil salesmen
and fearmongers
and dictators,
let us band together
in our local communities
to show each other
we care
[and we have the power
to say no
to white supremacist
racist
transphobic
bigoted
propaganda
disguised as
nationalistic
“history”
we can know
our own
true history
and we can work together
to make the future
so much better
than any of these old
unimaginative
dinosaurs
know what to do with]
[here’s to a wonderful
and kind
and free
2026]
art
and artists
are the only things making me
hopeful
right now
[perhaps my art
could bring hope
to someone, somewhere]
an educated populace
is a dangerous populace
to the folks in charge
who gain
with everyone else’s
losses
the overwhelming ache
of knowing strangers’
wants
and needs
and their own aches
and feeling hopeless
and helpless
even while knowing
individuals cannot save everyone —
it is companies and economies
and governmental systems
that keep those in want
wanting,
and keep those in the place of
being able to give
here
and there
stuck
in overwhelm…
fuck capitalism.
where is our revolution
of kindness?
what will Pride be like this year
with our government in shambles
and all the blame for
everything
placed on the shoulders of those
who pioneered the struggle and marches
that today’s parades are based on
will rainbow capitalism
make an appearance
or are we simply
closer to Sylvia and Marsha P’s era
than we ever have been
before?
[and will that help
in community-building
and getting back
to what Pride
actually means?]
i wish i wish i wish
i could make consumerism
and capitalism
truly passé
just from saying so
in a poem only i will probably see
perhaps it is so
for me
and i can spread it outwards
from my words and experiences
into my daily life and conversations
and someday
i’ll have helped
make it so
make me an omelette
and i’ll bake you some chocolate chip cookies
and we can have some tea and coffee
provided by either of us
and talk about the world around us
and how it’s hard to let go of the idea
that one of us could be the one person
to bring peace
but we are not accidental billionaires
with good hearts
or the messiah come back
with the power of god
we’re just two human beings
who want to leave the world
a bit better than we found it
and the only way we can do that
is on a smaller scale
than originally anticipated
so let’s partake in this breakfast
and dessert
and the community we create
and leave our part of the world
and the people we meet and care for
much better than we found them
half-formed poems
catastrophizing stuck in my head
until i think i’ll burst if i don’t
say
something
and then it’s there stuck in my throat
when i remember
actual
catastrophes
all while i’m too tired to sleep
and too sad to cry
and everything feels like a clock ticking down
down
down
but to what
inevitable
terror?
[or is this simply life in late-stage capitalism/climate crisis disaster?]
kipventures 