Empty Promises

A Poem

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

good times —
everyone says they’re rolling on through,
on the next train to easy town,
but we’re still chained to our desks
in a sleepy little world
that doesn’t care about us,
never did and never would

oh, we knew too little
and dreamed too big —
or so they like to say —
but I held onto hopes
with daydream fireflies
cluttering my world
in sparkling bursts

happy days —
they’re the product of another age,
primped and coiffed for magazine covers,
but today everything’s shared
on a portable screen
as we’re fed countless lies
disguised as decadence

oh, we thought we knew it all
as we swiveled our ways
up and up and up,
spiraling to that next position
which might promise us
the fountain of youth
and riches to last lifetimes