Monday, February 29, 2016

Future Shock


image from sciencefictionart.tumblr.com


Future Shock

Man has a limited biological capacity for change, & when
overwhelmed by it, they descend into future shock.”
--Alvin Toffler

Hard to believe it’s already 2216, & earth has become a plethora
of domed citadels. Climate change was real, & now only technology
allows us to cling to its surface. The seas have risen, land masses
have shrunk. Nations have withered. We have given in to what used
to be considered a dystopian vision, where great corporate conglom--
erates, no longer puppet masters, have stepped out of the shadows & 
have become Ruling Republics.

My family lives on the west coast in MICRO-APPLE, covering the 
western portion of Old America. The oil & natural gas barons have
taken over the heartland in BP-STANDARD. The east coast has
become the bastion of Military/Industrial complexes, called LIBERTY.
There is no President, no governors, just CEOs. What’s left of the
ancient government is made up of supervisors & sycophants who
wear black jumpsuits blazoned with patches from corporate sponsors.

I’m a climate engineer on my way back to Mars, where 50 million souls
toil in vast mines & farms, or are engaged in atmospheric change. It now 
rains on the red planet. We grow crops within the sprinkle of domed 
communities. A half dozen seas are filling up & spreading. We understand 
that our tiny galaxy, the Milky Way, is but a dust particle in a universe of 200
billion other galaxies. Beyond Mars, little Ceres has limited potential for
colonization; so it’s a way station, like all the moons have become. Jupiter
now has a 1,000 space stations orbiting it, & exploration of Saturn is on
the horizon. We have sent probes into the far reaches of the cosmos, but
sadly the data does not determine other life forms.

Man’s footprints now are
on planets once thought to be
unreachable; praise Allah.



Glenn Buttkus

Posted over on dVerse Poets Pub



17 comments:

brudberg said...

Oh indeed a travel I do not wish to do... somehow a future like this make me look forward to dying... إن شاء الله‎,

tonispencer said...

A most unpleasant travel. Makes me glad I will be dead at such times and never have to live this, praise God. the micropoem at the end enhances the negative thoughts of such a future. I'd like to believe in something more positive, that maybe we are learning to not make such mistakes and have started to care.

AnotherFearlessYear.net said...

Interesting vision of the future. I don't think I would like to be there. I agree with Bjorn, it makes me look forward to death.

Grace said...

The vision of the future earth is very depressing and yet, one that sadly our future generations will have to make at the rate we are destroying our planet ~ This is indeed a future shock Glenn ~ Hope you are well ~

Buddah Moskowitz said...

Fascinating, especially the Praise Allah, at the end. A very rewarding read. Thanks.

Magaly Guerrero said...

I'm enchanted by your post-apocalyptic haibun. The planet looks grim (as one might expect if we continue treating it the way we have), but I like that the speaker is a climate engineer. That gives me hope. Even when things get horrid and barren, there will always be someone willing to plant tomorrow.

Victoria Ceretto-Slotto said...

Oh dear...sad vision of what can be but a good take on futuristic vision and an invitation to us to think things through more carefully.

Anonymous said...

That sadly seems like the only probable future for our dear planet. Scary isn't it. It already feels like it is the corporations rather than people and governments that run the world!

Gayle Walters Rose said...

That was some trip you took us on, Glenn. I have a feeling that people will adapt to whatever happens...good or bad. I wonder if what we're seeing now are the beginning footsteps of the future you paint. And your haiku says volumes...

lynn__ said...

A fascinating and disturbing travel into future shock! Don't think I'd like to be farming inside a dome on Mars...

Margaret said...

...just don't vote for Trump and we can change the course! (sorry - hope I don't offend anyone) Left me feeling a bit empty even as I acknowledge how clever it is.

vivinfrance said...

So clever, Glen, but I hope not prescient! Your vivid imaginings are wildly disturbing! I'm sure your political extrapolations are spot on!

Misky said...

What a fantastic journey you've taken me on with this tale. I enjoyed it thoroughly!

Unknown said...

Sci-fi or prophecy, only the future will tell for sure.

Anonymous said...

Bunsiness ruling the world openly… Very well crafted piece. I really enjoyed it, even if I would not enjoy been there.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

What a wonderful piece of writing! (I do hope it remains fictional, but I'm not sure.) My future shock came most of all in the final two words – as intended.

Katie Mia Frederick said...

StRandeD noWoN planeTs..
otheR than Nature thAt iS earTh..
eT's wanDer iN screams
oF screens that
gRow color
and speed..
outside
Of lEaves
that groW..
future shock..
iS now human
machine.. grass iS
sTill groWinG.. few feeL...

Barefoot
grAss
Leaves..:)