Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Heartbreak Hotel




image from fineartamerica.com


Heartbreak Hotel

“The heart was made to be broken.”
--Oscar Wilde.

Are we living in the End Times?
Can any one of us fully process
the world’s ills in a single day?
My heart is shattered beyond repair
because of...

drug cartels in Mexico and South America,
drought, starvation and unclean water
in Africa and Illinois, the Opioid Epidemic
in the middle class, the thousands who 
died needlessly in Puerto Rico, monster
tornados, hurricanes, & volcano eruptions,
glaciers melting & drowning polar bears,
cruelty to animals, the battering and raping
of women, the fucking 1% that owns nearly
everything, terrorist & racial massacres, the
killing of young black men by the police, the
New Millennium Crusades, authoritarian
assaults on democracy, the spread and growth
of the homeless population, our crumbling
infrastructure, governmental corruption at
every level, the insidious lobbyists who own
the politicians, the seasonal forest fires,
torrential rains, flash flooding and mudslides,
those massive traffic jams, our renewed fear
of nuclear destruction, when “the truth is not
the truth”, when Trump orders his minions
to disregard all the coverage done by the
free press and media--and to only pay
attention to the propaganda spewed out
on Fox State TV--

all this, in one form or another
broadcast every single day,
because we live in an age
where a camel farts in Saudi
Arabia, and within ten minutes
it becomes banner news.



Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub

16 comments:

Frank Hubeny said...

Very appropriate quote from Wilde. I think it is truer than we might imagine.

You've made a good case for the "end of times" in the second part.

tonispencer said...

Excellent quote from my favorite Oscar Wilde.

indybev said...


Oh woe is us, Glen, I'm going now to have a glass of wine and one of my eternal optimist pills!

Unknown said...

So much catastrophe...insurmountable...and then....a camel fart. Love how you think!

Victoria Stuart said...

Ah, the litany of heartbreak and frustration in our world, we grow numb as we can't take in the enormity of it all. And like watching a cute cat video, we are distracted so easily by a camel fart. I love this!

Anmol (HA) said...

Yes, all of it is heartbreaking. It's the tragedy that is going to have a lasting impact. This pain is not going anywhere.
A powerful write.
-HA

Anonymous said...

I feel similarly.

jo said...

Great writing -- to go from the woes of the world to camel farts is fantastic!

Sabio Lantz said...

if the media existed 2000 years ago, the horror would have been worse, I fear.

Sascha Darlington said...

There *is* so much heartbreaking going on currently, but I wonder if it hasn't always been so? With all of the means of communication our consciousness has increased (or decreased depending on who you speak with). The camel farts certainly add a touch! :)

Truedessa said...

Glenn, my heart breaks every time I watch the news. I worry about the world and the state of current affairs and a president who has caused great division within our own nation. I cry often when I see tidbits of where this is all leading.

Kim M. Russell said...

The news is heartbreaking, Glenn,the majority of it. As it has become more accessible, it has become worse. If we didn't get round-the-clock news, would we wonder what was going on or would we just get on with it?

Kathy Reed said...

I take the news quite hard, take it with me wherever I go. It's depressingly obvious the man in the White House should not be in charge.
The world suffers without men like Obama and Kofi Anon. Empathy is a curse sometimes...when you add up all the trauma, disdain, hate, misfortunes and hopelessness in the world, You got this.

brudberg said...

After reading your poem I feel that my heart will blow up like a balloon leaving me empty deflated...

purplepeninportland.com said...

Love the Oscar Wilde quote. The heart is being cut into little pieces.

Frank J. Tassone said...

An apt quote. You've covered all the grievances I could think of, Glenn. I'm reminded, also, of William Butler Yeats: "The center cannot hold. Things fall apart." Sorry I'm so late commenting.