Juvenilia

I play computer games each day
trying to beat my best score.
I read newspapers with large headlines
and few words because I am bored in the mornings:
They print photos of funny animals
or x-rays showing stomachs which have swallowed
unlikely objects.

I like TV Shows which encourage me to laugh
at people made to seem of lower intelligence than myself.
I fill the silence of my life fidgeting on the phone
because I can’t stand silence
or thinking on my own.

I am told what to eat and what not.
My food is wrapped and labelled but I’ve never watched it grow,
I am advised how to walk when it’s wet
and to drink water when it’s hot.
I have someone to watch my steps,
going out and coming in,
as guardian to my safety.

I have been tamed and chained,
My brain power restrained
In quantum mechanics, particle physics,
economics or philosophy
I could not summarise for you even the most simple of theory,
and still I believe that a century ago
people were dumber than I
because I have a smart phone:
although I could never in all my lifetime
make one myself
or explain how it works.

I am scared of bogeymen and spooks in the dark.
uncomfortable with difference and customs unlike my own.

Obsessed with wealth, I take for myself first
and haven’t learnt to share.
I believe most people (myself not included)
don’t know how to behave,
and so I push for strong punishment
and harsh laws to keep others in line.

If I were left alone I am told I’d run wild,
I’m supposed to be an adult, but I’m living like a child.