Beggars on the Phone

Wells Preston

They used to knock

We built walls to keep them out

They keep coming

Invading locusts

Crawling through the wires on their hands and knees

Only to stand up with effrontery

            I don’t need a new mortgage

Don’t want my chimney cleaned

                        don’t need a credit card

They are but the beggars of the past

Making fast money, throwing silence to the wolves

Predators of poor judgment and pity

The best way to fight it

Is to fight back

We have learned to ignore, fake absence, hang up, walk away

Still they come

How tall must the wall be

I envy and pity their relentlessness

If all the energy from these useless endeavors was put to work for the good of mankind

There would be no poverty or hunger

If the enemy is already inside the city gates

Hidden in the lines, crawling through the mail boxes

            What must the people do to stop the madness?

It took millions to build this empire of harassment

It will take nothing but lies and empty pockets to destroy it

Continuing this consumer culture

Will only increase the rifts in society

Buy now to save your way of life

Hang up, to build a new one

Maybe life is all about the beggars at the gate

Fuck the empire of greed, exile the masterless servants to the street, break the cycle

Leave it in the dust

Or cut yourself off from the pests

I toss my phone into the bathtub

The first blow of the hammer cuts through the plastic

small parts scatter on the porcelain

Dancing like leaves on ice

This is the best way to become unlisted