this is the tribal mind rising
the calls ringing out in text messages and news alerts and emails
“which side are you on, which side are you on!”
what once was a neighborhood, a borough, a community, a nation
now’s only tribe
and tribe connecting to tribe on social media
as humanity splinters
as common value and common belief gets dissected into tiny pieces
with knives of demographics and thumb drives of polling data
so no leader has vision strong enough to stitch us back together
this is the tribal mind rising
opinions served as facts
self obsession confused as self expression
on the same social media platforms where
we share beautiful pictures of our newborns, our fur babies, our vacations
we curse and disparage and harass and insult and condemn
how powerful it feels to share examples of the goodness in our lives in one post
while in the next we say fuck that other tribe fuck them all they’re goin down
that other tribe who lives in a far away city in a far away place
across the state, across town, across the river, across the street
who lives right next door across the hall
across the living room in the 4K screens
in our heads
this is the tribal mind rising
every day driving a sick margin call on our mental health
what if i can’t back up that smile in my selfie
with enough happiness
our social lives coupled now to the overactive immune system of social media
an immune system prone to tripping out and being played
chasing the ghosts of false information, of doubt, of human weakness
to a place in our lives
to a place in the daily life of America
to a place in this world
that’s as lost as a worthless rumor
this is the tribal mind rising
faintly in the background of billions of little glowing screens
the multi-million dollar fees wired to offshore accounts
of ex-military intelligence influence peddlers
whose pre-election psy-ops campaigns nestle amongst the pictures
of our puppies, our weddings, our friends
while unseen amongst the trillions of packets
flowing through millions of routers every day
the gigantic shit-eating grins
on the faces of generals and ministers and presidents in Russia
the pats on the backs for the boys at the GRU
who have found the buttons to push
the buttons to just hold down
this is the tribal mind rising
as we tap and post and comment and swipe
our unwitting thumbs pounding American wedges
into American cracks
doing the damage for our adversaries with one post
sharing cookie recipes with our families the next
heat flow 