career day

in the empire
conflicting narratives
might be somewhat
     alive
though not necessarily
     above ground
barely breathing
needing a critical
     real
peer review
not just by academia
and certainly not by maimstreet media
     but by jane and joe
     from down in the hollow

will this generation
be droned
concocted in anesthesia mix
and then formed
like paper mache happy mush
     a sweet talking hallmark card
     looking out for
     the next big gig?

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, April 26, 2013)