Ego, ergo Eco

Frogs float in a saucepan
Giggling at the bubbles
Ignorant in increments

Gum-flappers on CSPAN
Twaddling ideologues
Impotent in dependence

Polar bears strand themselves
On frozen funeral shelves
As the arctic circle melts

Facebook narcissism
Deepening the schism
Between the faceless billions

Unwired, unwitting, hired
(For cheap but not for keeps)
So artificial revenue
Growth unfettered can continue
Leaping greatly forward,

Nevermind us waking from
This Somnium Americana,

Uneasy with extremes
We dream of tropic paradigms
And hot springs hoping
Not to stir this slumber
While the numbers bear the tidings
To our coast-along habit.

Assume blind justice serves us later,
Last, or not at all (the end's always
Depending on your means)
Please just assimilate us faster
In this melting (boiling) pot
Of man's self-made disaster.

Dear

To Whom it may concern (or not):

We've recently become aware
Of circumstances currently
Confronting our unusual
Suburban domesticity,
And felt it prudent to inform
Your office expeditiously.

We understand that overbuilt
And overvalued housing stock
Has turned the whole economy
Back several "hours" on the growth "clock"
And left homeowners desperate
To shake upside-down mortgage shock.

Perhaps a local viewpoint will
Provide perspective overdue,
Suggestions may include: the till
You eat be that which grows near you,
And living spaces redesigned
To honor your communal glue;

Proximity you've written in
Genetic and computer codes
Might offer insight if transposed
To legal, health, and building modes;
Restore the green to parkways paved
And repedestriate the roads.

You've proven all this excess space
You've claimed has failed to meet the needs
Of population's swelling base
So...write it off! Restore the weeds,
The undergrowth, the slower pace;
Follow where un-developed leads.

You may discover arts you've lost,
Rekindle friendships long-thought past,
And bear (through sharing) lower costs
For love and labors you've amassed.
You wizened stone, now slowed and mossed,
Need roll no more, iconoclast.

In closing, we suggest you seek
A life less "owned," and truly freer:
Give back these woods, and find your wills
Less burdened with their ancient fear
Of scarcity. [Please meet us here
In compromise, and we, sincere,
Will "mete" your prize most willingly.]
Release all you no longer need;
Discover thus, all you hold...dear.