The Fair

Things have changed
the girl I made out with behind the rides
never cursed and she wore jeans
I didn't reach for other places on her body
I knew we were too young for that
and she did too
a kiss and sitting close on the ferris wheel
was all the thrill we could handle

These kids man, holy shit
they need churches, boy scouts
dads that say, "You aren't leaving the house dressed like that!"
They need vegetables and sunshine
their parents need to get some money
and read some books
Why is that Dad holding his 15 year old girls hand like that?
And why is she dressed like a Vegas stripper?
Why are so many 30-something year old men
stumbling drunk wearing video game t-shirts?
Does anybody do pushups anymore?

The only collared shirts I saw were on
sixty year old men and Mexicans
and me
and Ben
Ben wore a collared shirt because his mom made him
she was nervous I'd lose him
maybe she thought I was a gamer-drunkard American
But I was a Boy Scout in the 80s
back when trophies were trophies
back when they let us get lost
taught us how to navigate with a compass
and topographical maps
if we didn't tuck our shirt in right we couldn't participate

When I went to Kindergarten
our educational path was chosen by test scores
The A B and C groups
the A group was ready for higher things
and everybody got a better education that way
We pledged allegiance to liberty every day
I was proud of my group of boys
they are different, on a counterculture course
thank God for that
because these people are going to re-elect
Donald J. Trump
and they will only get poorer and fatter and sluttier and make more babies
and they'll kick out
all these handsome ass Mexicans
that run this fair and pick all the food.

This is an eye opening year at the fair
our decay is becoming rot
all empires do this
but what an interesting time to be alive
a time to prepare our families for another paradigm.