Materialism

Maybe we have too much

But not enough of the right stuff

Maybe we've gone too far

Though we've yet to arrive at the crux

Maybe this cluttering crush

Thats jumbling everything up

And the space that we're trying to fill

Is in fact like a bottomless cup?

Maybe we're trying to fit

A circle into a square

 But the box doesn't match with the lid

Each part is at odds with it's pair. 

Reviews

[barleygirl]

There's some rampant materialism going on in the USA. I have nothing against people who spend what they can afford on anything they want. The ones that baffle me are the ones that buy & buy, with shopping being the addiction, & having these things means nothing. They don't even open the pkgs or wear the clothing that they have tons of. There's a regular cottage industry of yard sales to rid people of the hoards of stuff they've never even used, just to satisfy a shopping addiction. Your poem has the correct diagnosis (filling up on the wrong stuff) stated in imaginative & gentle ways, showing tolerance for the problem, not criticism (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Chris Shaw]

We buy more and more because we can. Also we now live in a throw away society. We have become wasteful and careless when it comes to our planet. Are we any happier? I think not, because our priorities are all wrong. Your poem raises questions and pricks the conscience.

Chris

[Laz K.]

Maybe you're right...:)
We (the fortunate ones that don't starve or face war, etc.) seem to live in "luxurious poverty". We have all the "props of life", but somehow we're dissatisfied and unfulfilled. Your poem is a poignant portrayal of the existential crisis of 21st c.man.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i think we need to give ourselves a break and applaud the effort to be the best we can...imperfection is perfection, i say...just trying to be the best we can is all that can be asked.
really like this piece...i will go with a half-filled cup...and savor it. Friends are much more important to me than material things....i liked your near rhyme in this...first line i read as "too much"---
j.