eric sundin

When we use up what is essential to our very survival we shall perish. No distractions shall save us. To ‘consume’ (Latin ‘consumere’) is to take wholly or completely destroy, i.e. to use up.

Consumers don’t just squander
they do obliterate
now and right here and yonder
they do annihilate

Humans are now consumers
of what remains on Earth
we’re the malignant tumors
assuring planet’s dearth

Plainly turning it all unlivable:
The ultimate act unforgivable

edited 04/18/24 0710

Each moment in its brevity
mere blip imperceptible
no doubt throughout eternity
flashes insusceptible

In mechanical traverse
circling on lonesome trek
in apparent Universe
planet Earth just a speck

Nonetheless could’ve proved ample
if we wouldn’t rush & trample

but instead us fleeting flecks
messy guests soon Earth-less
us humans of modest specs
create own mess mirthless

+)
insusceptible = incapable of being influenced or affected

edited 09/28/23 1055

By now dulled by grime their chime
rhymes grinding without cheers
Imposed too many a time
on cornered, hapless ears

To recite brambled rhyme
(obscure its etymology)
is not a victimless crime
Here’s my sincere apology!

but ceaseless the struggle to self-constrain
it shall fail over again & again

+)
bramble = a rough prickly shrub or vine

edited 05/31/24 0830

Clearly verity
a fading oddity
like charity
& solidarity!

Non-profit? What hilarity:
A socialist contrivance!
Anti-social temerity!
Surely full fledged connivance!

Rather: ‘Love it’ proclivity
for fantasy’s foolery
of monetized activity
unabashed by usury!

Steady stealth inoculations
in market cacophony
by rapacious corporations
in globalized larceny

Any chance they’d take a moment’s rest?
Sure, when the sun rises in the West!

edited 04/30/22 0840

When on sugar, dairy
meat & chicken fed
our stomachs turn wary
as our waistlines spread

Indulging food, fat & salty
in lifestyle sedentary
downing drinks distilled & malty:
Shortcuts to cemetery!

On the smooth wings of chocolate
we soar into sweetened space
but lightheaded in the cockpit
we’ll crash in nauseous a place

Cheese of ambrosial yellow
sliced so thickly & warm
while the milk cows do bellow
as their udders deform

Unless our conscience unheeded
about slaughterhouses cruel
or morally enfeebled
who would slurp such pain filled gruel?

+)
-ambrosial = exceptionally pleasing to taste or smell
-warm = (psychological) warm

edited 10/15/2026 1205

Proto-verses stuck in queue
cold shouldered by his Muse
stranded instead with a shrew
seems he’s paying his dues

“Am hardly expecting affection
merely had hoped for direction
so will settle for imperfection!”
he versifies in dejection

Amidst twilight’s hue
in the Word Zoos
phrases won’t accrue
to cheers & boos

His cadence jammed
stone-walling
his stanzas hammed
name calling

Had hoped to glimpse words that would stir dragoons
but found mostly those from burping buffoons

edited 04/27/22 1440

Let up on the schlepp:
Unclasp handrails
find spring in your step
Check wind, set sails

Clamor for an upgrade:
Transcend life’s travails
in its daily charade
Forge upwardly trails

Do not indulge in sour grapes
on Life’s short promenade
and above all never traipse
in its penny arcade

edited 03/02/24 0900

The grinder manual
that squeaking jewel
of process natural
zestful ritual

Among machines
manual is ‘end’
that fulfills ‘means’
in transcendent blend

We shall be finding
pure peace of mind
when by hand grinding
Sweet shifts align:

Caffeinated manna
wondrously falls, wends
In pure dulciana
fragile fragrance scends

+)
-dulciana = the softest stop on the organ and most delicate in tone
-‘grinder manual’ = here: manual coffee grinder
-scend = to rise or heave upward under the influence of a natural force
-wend = to move slowly and not directly

edited 02/08/26 1230

Why must I pretend poise
in ubiquitous noise?

Vain the hope that racket turns tinny
so seal doors tight, make walls thicker?
Perhaps move away to New Guinea
or keep numbing up with liquor?

Hold the wild bustle!
Lighten the stomp
Muscle the hustle
Muzzle the romp

Please muffle the clang
and curb the harangue!

edited 09/28/23 1005

Nostalgic Russian nationalism
in all out hubristic swaggers?
Kremlinized crony capitalism?
Nyet, no mere posers or braggers.

Placed Winter Games in subtropica
(since long where insurgency spawned)
thus while no venue utopia
still pulled it off brilliantly brawned.

Russians managed Sochi with verve
of recognition deserved.
Showed visionary, steely nerve
while must it not be observed:

How American media
were just shamefully ragging
on edge of neurasthenia
in barrages unflagging.

(+)
-barrage = an overwhelming and continuous delivery of something,
-hubris = excessive pride or self confidence; arrogance
-neurasthenia = nervous breakdown
-rag = to rebuke severely; make mean fun of
-Sochi = Black Sea venue of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games
-subtropica = Sochi has a ‘subtropical’ climate
-Winter Games = 2014 Winter Olympic Games

edited 03/19/18 0815