We Digress

We went
to dinners
with our lovers
and we talked
on our cell phones
to our colleagues
even though
we did not like them
but we talked
to make our money
to buy gadgets
that we needed
but did not need
but that drove
our economy
that kept us
in our jobs
we came to hate
but that paid
our health insurance
that paid
for our cures
for our ailments
that we got
from our going
to our jobs
that wore us out
that paid us
to pay our mortgages
for our houses
just for us
to come home to
and then leave from
and then go back to
from our jobs
that we kept
to buy our cars
we loved to drive
and sit in traffic
that we hated
but we drove
to the jobs
we tried to leave
but which paid
for the tab
for our dinners
we did not finish
with our lovers
we did not talk to
on vacations
that we went to
to unwind
from the jobs
we longed to leave
to sit in houses
we longed to leave
for vacation homes
that we left
for outings
that we left
for phone calls
that we ended
to attend
charity dinners
to save our ozone
and the children
in the wars zones
we destroyed
with our battles
for our gas
for our cars
that we drove
because we loved them
that we bought
because we loved them
and stayed inside them
when we were frightened
of the people
who were out there
who were homeless
when it was clear
we did not want them
as our neighbors
when it was clear
that they were
the kind of people
we did not want
to brush up against
to stand next to
in our lives
when it was clear
they were the ones
we ran away from
to the suburbs
that we drove from
to the cities
that we went to
for the jobs
that we left
when we went
to vacations
to the places
where the people
did not like us
because we were
so U.S.A.
and so we cried
like little children
when our soldiers
were returned
back to our arms
or to their graves
in little pieces
after fighting
for our oil
for our gas
for our cars
so we could drive
in our cars
to our bars
and movie theaters
in our malls
with air conditioning
to escape
from the heat
to escape
from our lives
to escape
from ourselves
to escape
the hot summers
that we got
from our driving
in our cars
from our suburbs
to our jobs.