treading water

early October leaves
are turning to color bars
and falling slowly
like T.V. memes
on my daydream mind

wearing a crown of quarks,
Shiva's in decadence shoes
dancing away the romance blues
for a crowd of well-dressed marks...
as confetti falls for the new fear

I'm in the grocery store
acting like a quiet madman
sorting through the fruits of modernity...
I see what's going on
but change comes slow and hard
these days...
life's road always going
in a hundred ways

far away in the desert
young men trade passionate blasts
of lead,
living and dead for tribe and flag...
stepping willing to their graves
in an unwinnable war
against the mighty west wind

I've another headache this morning...
caught between the contrasts
of optimism and depression,
treading water till fortune or disaster
brings change to this recession