Dave Bonta's "Modern Times" paints a world where nothing real seems to be moving forward. Time passes "only for show," as if the calendar keeps turning while life stays stuck in place. The country it describes is "wonder-starved," a phrase that suggests people have lost the ability to be amazed, or have been denied anything worth being amazed by.
The images that follow are mechanical: "levers and puppets." People appear to be either operated or operating, with little freedom in between. The title's "modern times" seems to point at a world shaped by machinery and routine, though the poem never says so outright. The final lines turn to sound. The music is just "one gear peaking / cruel and high," a single grinding note instead of a real tune.
The speaker sounds weary and quietly bitter. There is no anger shouted here, just a cold, observant tone. The mood is bleak and hollow, like standing in a place where everything runs but nothing lives.