POETRY FOR THE PEOPLE! Submit up to 3 poems about today's world in flux totaling no more than 150 lines each by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59pm, May 30th. Culmination reading will be held on Saturday, May 31st, 3 to 5 pm ON ZOOM ONLY (link to reading will be provided to every published poet).

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Kevin R Pennington

Manufactured Outrage


I.


The American Dream

used to mean something, 

or at least We the People

thought it did. It was 

a dream without kings

where anyone could 

have a good life 

if they worked 

their hands 

to the bone 

for the 

man.


II.


We stood tall

We acted like the World Police

We fought genocide

We kept the world safe for Democracy

We fought for freedom

We started wars for oil

We celebrated America


III.


This land is Our Land

and we reaffirm that

in public classrooms

with oaths said by rote

and patriotic melodies

sung at baseball games.


IV.


I write this

manufactured outrage

on social media.

I get a hundred likes,

but nothing changes.

The algorithm hides 

what I post so that

only my friends see it

and all I hear is 

echoes of alleged

truths. 


V.


We are so busy

being entertained

by technology

that our freedoms

evaporate like

water on a hot

summer day.


VI.


The homeless 

huddle on the streets

while Congressmen 

sit in ivory chambers,

passing laws that 

make it illegal 

to sleep beneath 

the stars.


VII.


We are being fucked over by 

a corrupt Supreme Court,

evil MAGA zealots, 

violent Proud Boys, 

an orange-skinned Dictator 

with an endless list of 

executive actions,

and his billionaire 

masters who orchestrate 

rigged elections.


VIII.


Elon Musk dismantles 

our government,

Nazi salutes our flag,

and holds a chainsaw

to the throats of the

American people.


IX.


No amount of Apple Pie

makes this bullshit OK.


X.


‘Merica, 

You had a heart attack 

in the middle of the night

from all the cigarettes, 

opiates, and caffeine.

Goddamn it, 

the Constitution 

is an amazing document

and America was beautiful,

but all dreams end

when you wake 

the fuck up.


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