generic in poetry

common things like band-aids lose
their trademark power and
their corporate identity
to common use by consumers the same
as peacemakers lose their names to history.
like astroturf and
human worth they become
unactionably generic.

words like aspirin
people like Gandhi
in a couple generations
the peacemaker’s descendants
waving nukes at Pakistan
or the cool dude Jesus
non-judgment and love
with a corrupt fan club
telling you woman cannot love woman
or man cannot love man.

time and marketing render
their very names generic
stripped of meaning
a tool for any bastard preening
to kill people he doesn’t like
or maybe make a buck
their trademarks gone generic
their philosophies, well, fucked
like we are.