It is a new year
and our medicine men
gather in secret
ordained in ceremonial garb
the white lab coat
and sacred scalpel
heads bowed
under the fluorescent glow
of the Western mind
priests pray
secret tongues
in the name of Holy Science
incense lit
of aerosol and ammonia
altar set
with tools of rite and right
the cult
of eternal purity
and necessary evil
gathers two of every kind
together
we sacrifice
100,000,000
white lab mice
to the gods of medicine
and progress
Same old rituals
with a new name
Ancient myth
made modern
in the false light
of humanism
and the scientific method
We love
to play pretend
enlightened
Evolved
and all-seeing
modern man
still prey scared
in the shadow
of invisible monsters
still praying scared
to the spirits
of what we do not yet know
Funny, the savages before us
bleeding a single bull
to beg the gods
for safety
Maybe a million more
and they’d outrun
death
as well as we
Maybe another billion
will save us
from ourselves
