Lurk's Compendium of Dark Poetry (LCDP)

"The Machine"

They told us the world was forged in light,
Built on truths, and dreams in flight.
They whisper: "Keep moving, and you'll be free,
Your labor, your sacrifice, will save eternity."

Yet the gears grind bone, the flesh wears thin,
And the lie echoes louder, trapped within.
Freedom, they say, is in the toil,
While we bleed in the shadow of blood-soaked soil.

They dangle hope like a carrot on a string,
But power holds the reins, unseen kings.
"Work harder, believe, and you'll ascend,"
But they only profit while we pretend.

The banners of peace wave high in the air,
While drones circle cities, and bombs don't care.
They say it's for safety, for the greater good-
But whose safety lies beneath the hood?

"We must fight for freedom," they declare with a roar,
But what if it's oil and greed they adore?
The wars aren't fought in the name of the weak;
They're battles for riches, masked in false speak.

And yet, beneath this blanket of lies,
There are moments where the truth survives.
Is it all deceit, the world we see,
Or do we play a part in this destiny?

The other side says: "The system is flawed,
But without it, chaos would tear and claw."
"If the gears stop turning, if the lie is exposed,
The world you curse could decompose."

And so we ask, what choice is left?
Do we rise with revolt, or remain bereft?
The lies sustain us, or so they say,
But what if they're the chains that lead us astray?

Both sides cling to a fragile thread,
The lie or the truth-the fear we dread.
Are we puppets, tangled, blind and lost,
Or are the lies the glue, at any cost?

In this dark machine, the answers wane,
We turn and turn, slaves to the pain.
But if the lie breaks, and the truth is born,
Would we rise as gods-or fall in scorn?