Beck-o-ning

Shadow replaces light
slowly for some
more rapidly for others.
Each breath taken
contains floating fragments
of hate and hypocrisy
embedding in the lungs
of those too mentally
and spiritually weak
to expunge their noxious effects.
Altruism and Egalitarianism
twin brothers
under attack
by "pious patriots"
dig in ever deepening
pits of sand
with shriveling fingers
the flayed skins
on their collective backs,
pocketed by charlatans
consumed in their
eventual burial.
Mass Media sings along
to the jingle, jangle
of "chump" change
as we bleed out
into an amorphous glob
of witless consumers
texting "wuz up"
as the shadows
make their inexorable march
across our collective psyches.
'Tis the "dark ages"
renewed for mass
customer appeal.
Flags flap "faithfully"
ethnic wedges are
strategically placed
by experts
and a "cancer"
known as avarice
infects and disables
what we we once
proudly pointed to
as "humanity."
Climb to a mountain top,
stand atop a rocky knoll
near an ocean
and breathe in
a last gasp of fresh air.