Puppets

There are very few people
who speak the same language anymore
put them in a room and close the door
because everyone else is a puppet
so proud of being a muppet
putting out thoughts
that spread like polka dots
meaningless on their own
but stronger together
if they only paid attention
instead of paying for attention
they’d realize that thoughts aren’t universal
they are individual
but I guess being an individual
has also gone by the wayside
because you need to be seen
you need to be heard
you need to talk with abbreviations for every word
and it’s a traffic jam in the middle
between the one’s who like to follow
and those trying to resist
the next generation can’t be missed
they are speeding down the highway
to join the crowd
turning their ‘music’ up loud
while sipping from the juice box
they just took out for snack after recess
who created this mess
these are the puppets
with a hand in their mouth
and a voice in their ear
it’s only going to get worse
year after year
as I sit here in line
waiting for another voice
to sound like mine.