I’m poet Guy Farmer and I love writing dark poems about human folly, from the petty to the galling and reprehensible.
I love connecting with professionals who enjoy dark poetry about human folly.
Emotional, raw, and deeply personal, ‘Unconventional Being’ is a powerful poetry collection about human darkness and folly.
The alternative to
Aggression,
Strife,
Anger,
Vengeance,
Hate,
War,
Competitiveness,
Injustice,
Brokenness,
Sadness,
All the tangled
Complications
Wrought by humankind,
Is always there,
Waiting patiently.
Love.
Love for self.
Love for others.
Love for all living beings.
Love for the planet.
Love for the universe.
All-encompassing,
All-healing,
Love.
It was only
When it happened
To her that she
Realized what
Other people had
Been going through
While she and her
Friends were
Putting them down.
Just when it
Seems like things
Couldn’t get more
Appalling, they do.
Standard rules don’t
Apply here,
Just some strange
Perversion.
Passing it off
As normal,
This calamity
Of brokenness.
Incongruously,
An ad appears
On the TV screen
Extolling the
Virtues of the
Ruthless
Industrialists’
Many companies
And how they’re
Woven into the
Very fabric of
Our lives.
A transparent
Attempt at
Whitewashing
Their dark
Legacy just before
They’re exposed
For who they
Really are
And how much
Suffering they’re
Responsible for.
Preemptive
Damage control
Varnishing their
Sordid acts.
He spent his entire life
Trying to avoid that
Feeling, the one he
Remembered from childhood
And never wanted to relive,
Constantly struggling to
Circumvent his inner pain,
Destroying all his
Relationships and making
A lot of people miserable.
He carried it deep inside
Until the very end.
A familiar refrain
Repeated decisively,
Peddled as truth:
Cut taxes on the rich,
The wealth will
Trickle down.
Years and years of
Following this fable
Yield nothing but the
Accumulation of vast
Fortunes by a few,
Famine for the rest.
The middle class shrinking,
The poor forgotten,
The affluent getting fatter,
Everyone else struggling
To run in place,
At the top, celebrating.
They tried to have a
Conversation but it never
Quite seemed to work,
Almost as if they came
From different countries
Or spoke languages the
Other couldn’t understand.
So, they kept it light,
Superficial, avoiding the
Bumps and anything that
Might resemble something
More meaningful.
Her actions negatively
Impacted them but
When they politely
Brought it up to her,
She took offense and
Blamed them,
Unable to admit fault
Or take responsibility
For her own behavior,
Leaving it unresolved,
As with much else
In her life.
A certain kind
Of pressured energy,
Dissatisfied agitation,
Surety of conviction.
Something didn’t go right,
Perhaps terribly wrong,
At some point,
The marks still evident.
A closing of the mind
To beauty, possibility,
Hope eclipsed by
Grim determination.
A fresh perspective,
Transcending discontent,
Revealing a new path
To compassion.
A sudden rush of
Self-inflicted everything,
Unstoppable motion initiated
By the realization that
We’re at the point where
Change is welcome and adventure
Alluring, the hum of possibility,
New experiences to become
Part of our story.
He’s spent most
Of his life wishing
For a time when
Everything would be
Different, a reprieve
From mundanity, failure,
A mostly tepid existence
Tinged in grey.
Today is the day it all
Changes, unless he has
Anything to say about it.
By all outward appearances
He had everything:
Huge mansion,
Vacation home,
Midtown apartment,
Fancy cars,
Private plane,
Yacht,
Perfect family,
Business empire,
More money than he could ever spend,
But it had cost him a lot.
He’d wake up at night
Wondering what it all meant,
Why the hole was never full,
Pervasive sadness,
Until he decided to start helping others,
People he didn’t even know,
For no reason other than being nice
And building a better world,
Kindness saved his life.
A full-time
Warehouse worker,
Unable to pay
Some outstanding
Parking tickets,
Finds himself in
A jail cell,
The full force of the
Judicial system
Against him.
An investment banker
Devises a scheme
That destroys
Countless lives,
Extinguishes untold dreams,
Bankrupts the country,
Enjoys a cool drink
By his pool,
Immunity in
Full force.
A cool mist brings
Down the temperature,
Filling each breath
With refreshing moisture
As we walk on the
Green, saturated earth
In what feels like a
Hidden, primordial place,
Far away from civilization.
We talk with each other,
Interested in what’s going on,
Sharing stories about everything,
Our deepest hopes and worries,
A natural ebb and flow,
Unedited, uninterrupted, easy.
Exciting ideas appear,
Old ones modified or left behind,
New branches, leaves, flowers emerge,
Our dreams taking hold,
Continuing the conversation.
I remember as a child
When I had to have
Minor surgery and,
As I was recovering
In the hospital afterward,
Receiving lovely cards
From my classmates,
And having various
Smiling faces visit,
Providing comfort
At a vulnerable moment,
Unsolicited
Acts of kindness
That made
Such a difference.
Reading poetry
In a placid garden,
A bird stops by
To take a drink,
A squirrel visits
For a while,
The sun warms
Us all.
He talks eloquently,
Movingly about
Things like
Equality,
Kindness,
Peace,
Hope,
Compassion.
He’s often met with
The same depressing,
Dismissive looks
And comments
Denigrating his
Optimism and
Replacing it
With hopelessness.
Entire spheres
Populated by
Dull
Bullies
Overpowering
Any positive impulse,
Creating a harder,
Meaner world.
Light waning
Over the water,
Small waves quietly
Washing over pebbles,
Screaming at the
Injustice,
The trees listen.
So dead inside that
They don’t feel a thing
When making decisions
That hurt other human beings,
Moving forward with
Cold calculation,
Devoid of compassion.
Covered in
Restrictive,
Antiquated,
Uncomfortable garb,
Long hair
Archaically styled,
Pioneer women without
The freedom to explore,
Idealized, submissive
Feminine appearance.
Stay close to the hearth,
With your multiple offspring,
Do as you’re told by
Your male master.
Walking anachronisms
Controlled from all angles
By abusive hustlers
Waving morality banners.
Trying to avoid doing
Something that really
Needs to be done,
An uncomfortable itch
That doesn’t go away.
Busying oneself with
Distractions,
Reminders unabating,
Relentless in their
Power to unsettle,
Unstoppable until
Properly addressed.
They’ve been given
Permission to be as
Loutish as they want,
Belittling anyone who
Doesn’t agree with them,
Gaining validation from
Someone with no restraint,
Who doesn’t care for
Anyone but himself.
Under a
Perpetual
Poisonous
Smog cloud,
He walks along
A filthy street,
Engulfed by
Row upon row
Of blank,
Faceless,
Forbidding
Cloned buildings
Teeming with families
Dislocated by
Unstoppable forces,
A concrete corridor
Of imposed
Existence.
Having been terribly hurt
Early in his life
By people he trusted,
He flailed through each day with
Selfishness and cruelty,
Ridiculing empathy,
Celebrating harshness,
Repeating the pattern.
One sleepless night,
It became clear to him
That he was trying
To get back at those who
Had injured him,
Destroying himself and
Everyone else in the process.
It dawned on him that
He was only continuing the misery and
Resolved at that very moment to
Live with kindness,
Leaving behind all the pain,
Healing himself and the world.
It’s as if
They’ve lost
The ability to
Feel anything,
Empathy replaced
By a grim,
Cold numbness.
Only the victors matter.
If you don’t win
You’re a loser.
Expendable,
Ignorable,
Worthless.
You either
Make it or
You don’t.
It’s up to you.
We’ll make sure
You get no help.
Formidable castles
Surrounded by
Afterthoughts.
The impulse to
Help someone in need,
To assist a fellow
Human being who is suffering,
A trait we all possess
In our hearts because we know
Deep inside that we
Might be there too but
For fickle chance.
The ability to feel
Someone else’s pain
And respond with kindness
Is in every one of us.
A moment of unexpected,
Irrational fear,
Fleeing from a predator
Where there is none,
Subconscious poison
Introduced long ago,
A passing observation,
Furrowed brow,
Explicit statement,
Unanticipated display
Followed by shame,
Though not in some,
Which is why it
Persists.
