"I'm Not Buying" poem by Douglas Keil (dkeil)

"I'm Not Buying"
 -Douglas Keil

Billboard babes and pinstripe suits
Flattering words telling me what to do.
You’re owned and your words are cloned-
A paycheck doesn’t mean the words are true!
A catch all with a quick swipe;
pick up lines and a bunch of hype;
not the drop-by friends that I tend to find.
Hardly a coffee klatch or even good times.
I don’t think they’ll want to stay awhile.
Hit and run, they’re under the gun
a short time to stack up a big pile
Business is not your friend,
Not someone on whom you can depend.
A real friend’s love is true-
The bottom line doesn’t play pretend.


Pretty girls with pretty smiles,
Pretty boys running away
with self-centered lifestyles;
dead babies piling up for fast times,
trading playtime for lifetimes,
Bloodguilt is heavy in the land,
At night in sorrow women moan,
girls as mothers working two jobs alone,
so many broken homes and boys without dads,
sick and twisted diseases
that no one needs to have.
What happened to marriages and baby carriages?
Allure, it’s sure, buries an easy cure-
But happiness can’t be had with a new ‘do-
and people look so sad.


Corporate dash. College degrees and Ph-Ds
Big debt, new cars, new house, but no J-O-Bs.
JP Chase is fishing for a bite,
credit perks that are outta sight!
Comcast is catching someone’s living room view,
Streaming gleaming entertaining thrills for you
the City never sleeps ‘cause it’s up all night
Printing new things for my shredder to chew.
It’s just another case of “I did it my way,”
I think I saw this movie before.
I think I read the history about that war.
I heard the stories about kings who hated the poor
people who just wanted to live.
There’s been enough attempts to rule us all.
Y’all failed- we don’t need any more!


Limelight burns along with tropical honeymoons,
How many are needed; when will we learn? No one’s immune!
For me- a simple life doing good will do;
minding spiritual things will carry me through.
I don’t want to be one singing the blues
when along comes the day-
a day coming soon; “Hey fella, your payment’s due!”
The ransom’s high, but I found a way…


It’s a double header on a famous Friday
flashing lights and the lot is full,
bad dreams for sale,
but I’m not buying.

© 2011 Douglas Keil