midnight in the desert in poetry

on the radio
a CIA spook say in OTHER PLACES people are brainwashed
into believing ends justify means he’s projecting

on the radio
a politician rails against the size of government and
in the next breath demands the military expand exponentially

on the radio
they tell us a pill will save our lives
then say it’s not meant to cure, treat or prevent any disease
it’s called Arctic Jaga this week
it was called snake oil a hundred years ago
it’s the same goddamned thing

on the radio
they say the world’s ending but if we buy gold now
we’ll have pretty metal bricks, useless after an apocalypse

on the radio
the man rails against the social safety net then
there’s three ads for medical devices you can get with medicaid

on the radio
they come up with conspiracies as they feel inadequacy
against the thrust of history and hope to regain agency through counter-factuality

on the radio
they say the Earth is flat because they need to believe they’re smarter
than the entire collected intelligence of human history

on the radio
it’s all bullshit
why am I not sleeping
why is all this horror
so fascinating?