Lucky are babies enslaved by a parental love
that holds them forever helpless in airy beds
of fine goose down, forever fed and bathed,
and snuggled near to breathlessness.
Then, mother succumbs to the tug of the tether
her paymaster has attached, and father has flown
down into the mine, or back up to the office.
Now, toddler meets the new crew, those who play
for pay the roles that moms and dads play for love.
“Oh no,” cry terrified two-year-olds, “into the
consumer economy, we’ve been thrown.”
Dave Read