machines make everything worse

• Late 2024
• Global Atmospheric CO2: 423 ppm

machines make everything worse
so we hide it away
we hide it in the future
we hide it in other places
we bury it underground
so we don’t see it
and we don’t know it
and we don’t care about it
but it’s there
and somehow
it makes everything worse
in smashing
and in killing
in degradation
and pollution
it all gets worse
but it seems better
if we don’t look too hard
or think about
what’s behind the door
because there
everything is worse
it’s worse because we made it worse
because of our machines
our machines made it worse
but don’t worry too much
there is an answer
and the answer is easy
and the answer is waiting
and the answer is ready to serve
and the answer is always the same
more machines
better machines
bigger machines
so we build
more machines
better machines
bigger machines
and they just make everything worse
and we have no other answer
and we have forgotten what else we can do
and we forgot that machines exist to serve us
not we to serve machines
so even when we know
that machines make everything worse
we go right ahead and build more machines
because we believe them
the makers of machines
the masters and commanders
they know
they must
they see further than us
because they have more machines
better machines
bigger machines
and if the machines do not fix the problem
and if the machines do not solve the issue
and if the machines do not repair the damage
if they just make everything worse
at least we can
bow
it feels good to bow
it feels good to give in
it feels good
to let the machines fulfill their destiny
to let the machines be greater
and us lesser
to worship them
our new gods
what did the old gods do for us anyway?
let our souls be acid
and our thoughts be fire
and our veins be metal
let us be worse
because machines make everything worse
or
did it once happen that on the sandy shore
with decayed plastic underfoot
and the strewn nets of trawlers
and the ickily warm grey waters
oily and limp
that it stuck in your bare foot
ouch
and you bent down and picked it up
white with its fibonacci swirls
a sea shell
and you remembered
so long ago a child
and you put it to your ear
~whoosh~ ~whoosh~ ~whoosh~ ~whoosh~