We're All in This Together
A flower is planted in petroleum
With an aluminum stem,
Standing in the middle of the desert,
Sucking up the sun like a satellite dish.
Its stainless steel petals reflect
In the birds' line of vision,
Halving their sight twice,
So that they look through two X's.
The bees that would pollinate
The plant can't find the iron stamen
Or carry the black tar of its blossom's nectar.
They sink into the ground,
Crushed and fossilized beneath mechanized roots.
That doesn't mean the flower doesn't chug
Enough billowing spurts of gray sludge
And carbon monoxide to share with everyone else,
Making all the leaves wilt
Except its own,
Which stand firm and strong in the sifting sand
That funnels down the depths of the Earth.
The air is as sweet as burning aspartame
And all around you can hear the slam
Of tires rubbing against the tarmac,
Wearing down the potholed roads,
And there seems to be a certain peace in the valley.
The flower, star-shaped, glowing over
The highway, guides the winding clots
Of traffic, and a friendly font speaks for it, saying,
"We're All in This Together."