all of our problems are small by Jack T. Marlowe

all of our problems are small
by Jack T. Marlowe

the little man
behind the curtain
hopes that our
short
attention spans
somehow
fail to notice
the short-term
profits earned
from the
downsizing
of the American
workforce

symptomatic
of the incredible
shrinking
American dream

but it's not
something
we want to
discuss
over dinner

while consuming
smaller portions
consistent with our
smaller paychecks.

the glow of our
tiny television
screens
reminds us
that all of our
problems are
small

as the oracle of
artful marketing
gurus hustles
their own version
of 'less is more'
which in each case
is more or less
a king-sized lie
promoting
big, big sales
with skimpy
savings

skimpy, like
the sweatshop
fashions sold
by supermodels
with more ass
between their ears
than they have
inside their
malnourished
skirts, on adverts

leading into
the evening news:
fast food journalism
reducing revolutions
earthquakes and
other upheavals
into 30-second
sound bites

and if you decide
to write a poem
about this
over your small
cup of gourmet
coffee that they
label as 'tall'

remember
our submission
policies
and make sure
that your poems
are 20 lines
or less.

Author bio:

Jack T. Marlowe is a working-class malcontent from Dallas, Texas. He's at that awkward age, when you're too old to be cool and too young to be a lovable curmudgeon. To compensate, Jack writes long poetry, short fiction, and some pieces that fuse (or confuse) the two. His writing has appeared in Zygote in My Coffee, decomP, Instant Pussy, Underground Voices, Beat the Dust and elsewhere. A veteran of the open mic, Jack also maintains an online stage at ink and blood, while he waits, somewhat patiently, for the second coming of Johnny Cash.