poetry Not in Our Name

Poet David Alpaugh satirizes the bait-and-switch of corporate capitalism.

David Alpaugh
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          After the BASF TV commercial

We don’t make the food you eat
We make it faster

We don’t make the bombs you drop
We make them smarter

skies fuller
oceans shinier
forests thinner

We don’t make 
the media you watch
We make them sexier
newsrooms cuter
talk shows livelier
movies better than ever if you love EXPLOSIONS #@!$&V
FLOODS    TWISTERS    EARTHQUAKES    TSUNAMIS
END OF THE WORLD PLAYING EVERYWHERE NOW
END OF THE UNIVERSE COMING SOON @!$&#*
TO A THEATER NEAR YOU

We don’t make your children 
We alter their consciousness

As for politicians
We don’t make the fox
We make ’em slyer

Law? Sand for the poor to pound
Playdough for the rich

We don’t make the cyberspace you swim in
We turn it into a hot tub
We don’t make the anger you feel
We feed its Sting Ray. . .

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Never heard of US?
That’s As We Like It!

We make nothing in our name
everything in yours.

David Alpaugh has published more than 400 poems in literary journals from Able Muse to Poetry to Zyzzyva and his essays on "Po-Biz" have been widely discussed in print and online. He has taught poetry at the University of California Extension and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and has been a finalist for Poet Laureate of California. He currently writes a  "Favorite Poem" column for arts journal Scene4. His fifth collection of poetry will be published in June by Word Galaxy Press.