Delivering yet another
Monologue
On the same tired subject
He’s recounted a thousand
Times before, it’s
Depressingly
Discernible that he’s
Never listened to
Someone else’s
Point of view or
Made room for any other
Narrative but his.
A traveling salesman
Rolls his cart
Into town and begins
Barking jovially about
His magic cure-all
Tonic called
The Free Market,
The guaranteed fix
For whatever ails you.
A crowd gathers,
Mesmerized by his
Persuasive message,
Buying bottle after
Bottle of the stuff,
Hurrying home to
Try the magic elixir.
Hours later, they
Lie in their beds,
Clutching their bellies.
A couple of towns over,
Another group of people
Gathers on main street.
I take a chance to
Speak my mind and I’m
Instantly uneasy,
Such is the nature of
Consciousness, a moment of
Certainty followed by
Inevitable questioning.
What the answers might be,
I don’t know, though
Others assert they do;
I don’t believe them,
It’s always the ones who
Say they know everything
Who really have no clue.
Love conditional,
Kindness doled out
In meager portions,
Dependent on
Self-interest,
How it makes
Him look, not how
It makes the other
Person feel.
Cold,
Calculating,
A cornucopia
Brimming
With nothing.
A hapless, powerless
Human being is beaten
To a bloody pulp
And allowed to die
By a group of arrogant,
Reckless hooligans
Employed by the state.
A tormented community
Takes to the streets,
Venting repressed anger,
A shared history of
Maltreatment and prosecution.
A smarmy politician
Bemoans the destruction.
They talk on the
Phone about how
Different things are
Now, how much is
Left to be done.
The remnants of the
Past flicker weakly
Before being extinguished
By the present, the
Passage of time,
The change that happens
No matter how hard
Anyone tries to hang on.
They obscure the truth
Behind petty, superficial
Distractions that mean
Nothing but avert attention
From what they’re really doing,
Destroying anything that
Benefits anyone else
But themselves,
Bullies on a rampage.
Polluting their minds with a
Sordid deluge of misinformation
They willingly immerse themselves in,
All semblance of civility, decency,
Savagely slaughtered, replaced by
Unnerving, unnecessary, unfounded
Cries for justice if not outright vengeance
For packaged, fabricated trespasses,
A resounding victory for the propagandists.
One person
Dares to
Speak up.
Another takes
Notice and
Joins in.
A movement
Coalesces and
Gains momentum.
A union of
Voices spreading
A message of hope.
They move
Forward with
Purpose and determination.
Their actions
Change
The world.
