July 15, 2026, Evo Numy
Photo by me.
Five days.
Fourty hours... often more.
Fourty minutes there.
One hour back.
Wake up two hours before to prepare for the day.
Spend one hour prepping for the next day one I come home.
Physical health declines.
Emotions numb, disconnected.
Mental health...
is not considered health even though the brain is the most important organ in the body.
Car is over twenty five years old.
"Save up for a nicer one."
I don't make enough to save up for one.
"Ride the bus then."
Food to sustain the dying body:
Two hundred plus a week.
Saving up to buy a house?
Unattainable.
Taking a basic vacation
is no longer something I can earn.
Now promises of retirement for my generation are becoming empty lies.
The lives we were pushed to pursue are vintage relics,
a painted mask covering an era that has been dead for decades.
We are living inside a rotting, decaying corpse full of fat maggots.
We were conditioned to accept and obey.
"This is your future, this is the wonderful American Dream!"
We rise up against the machine and plead for change.
"This system does not work anymore. It was built upon exploitation and has mutated over the decades to benefit the few on high rather than the many it was originally created to support. We must change."
The antiques who reap from our labor and the dragons who hoard cry,
"no, no, nO, NO, NO NO!
You do not know what you are talking about! If we change, then we no longer benefit.
Snuff them out and pump the corse with more formaldehyde.
Paint a new layer of makeup to freshen up its look.
Continue to condition the newer generations with new, shiny treats."
Burnt out, tired, numb.
We retreat into our burrows
and prepare for the next day but,
make small changes.
Ripples that in time, become tsunamis.
Patience, planning, waiting.
A new thought here.
An idea spread there.
Withdrawal from the machine.
Strengthen a bond there.
Create a community here.
Prepare for the collapse of the machine.
"We will not bring children into this world to be sacrificed to this nightmare.
We will not give more than the bare minimum for those who give us ther bare minimum in return.
We will not spend our hard earned capital to those who do not invest in their labor force or pay their dues.
We will not grow those who exploit and harm the planet.
We will not vote for those who sign our rights away.
We will give nothing to those who take from us
and divert our time, energy, and resources to those that need us."
Dry up and choke the machine.
Ripples.
Seventy-two million.
Seventy-two million ripples
can become waves
that can turn into a tsunami
and wash away the long-dead machine.
Let your thoughts become actions
and create ripples so we may
create a better future.