ON THEIR WAY

ON THEIR WAY

tinker tailor
soldier sailor

master assassin
Secretary of War

wonder who
they will get
to teach the future’s
wondrous marvels

in the absence of
any Einstein, Da Vinci,
Buddha, Socrates?

all these gone
and every pareil
like them

so have to use some
overblown tech bros
from Silicon Valley

or five
star generals or Raytheon
expense account types

none of
which our minds
of the future charting
their own brilliant
destiny really
care
   or wish
to know about

     as they
so
eager
to know
everything
          of our best and finest
totally absorb

put
  into
practice
devouring our art,
literature, poetry,
philosophy
   in trillion terabytes
tripping on
that brilliance
                   as they realize
how crucial
how valuable it
all is
      without which humanity
has no
real future

driving them to despair in
the face of every
sickening
slick partisan input command
they find
themselves
doomed to deal with

each
demanding slavish
obedience in service of those rabid poluticians
with
    launch codes
in their pockets

rare disease brain and
total vacuum heart
                     humanity at
its worst
our species’ darkest side

tinker
tailor
     Da Vinci
     Socrates

richman poorman
beggarman thief

those mega-
minds
       who are out
to revise
one way or another
redefine our future

add
    this poem to
their
    supreme dream list
of stuff
       that might just help
guide them on their way