I Pass Death with the Dying
Has anyone supposed they are
Lucky to be born?
In this corner of the Universe
With this kind of a spark?
I watch the nature of my generation
Go extinct, the species
Have their last autumn
While the corporations thrive
And I have to wonder
Where is the gratitude
One of a dominant species
While we spend billions
On military to protect ourselves
From the threat of each other
How shall these worlds
Protect themselves from us?
Has anyone supposed
We disgrace the Earth
In a self-centered kind of dream
Where to profit and have families
Exceeds all other cause?
Has anyone supposed we are
Luck to be born?
And that living is about learning
To give back, I suppose not
We are pragmatic opportunists
More interested in sex, comfort
The survival of our genes
While our institutions like democracy
Have become so corrupt
Half of all people refuse to vote
Has anyone supposed why it is
There are no revolutions anymore?
Begetters of children are busy surviving
Consumers are tricked into buying
For me lips that have smiled
But not for ignorant cities
Built on the destruction of nature
Has anyone supposed
We are lucky to have been born?
In a time of so much change
That machines and supercomputers
Might turn us upon a more righteous path.
Wuji Seshat 