Bad Days on the Planet by David L. Wright

Bad Days on the Planet

If it weren't for idle gossip
there'd be no tongues

to wag
and if there weren't misfortunes
no comics with their gags.

There'd be no country singers

fading

like their jeans

to pen laments of fallen souls
and unrequited dreams.

An' if it weren't for fireflies
and lightning

in the rain
how'd those darlin' boys get home
with whiskey in their veins.

Perhaps in days to come
when culture's

run amok
and sticks held fast in muddy bogs
find themselves unstuck

- when telephones fall silent
- when the lowly cockroach

rules
and a wayward Cosmic Cowboy
in search of ancient jewels

stumbles on this barren land
where attitude

was cool
he'll learn that once in paradise
there lived a race of fools.