She nonchalantly
Repeats the word:
Thugs.
It reverberates
With visceral
Effectiveness.
Countless minds
Racing to
Ruthless judgment.
The relentless
Tyranny of
Loaded language.
Many years passed and
There arose the dismaying
Realization that they
Had never reflected on
Anything, reconsidered
Their actions, grown
In any way, understood
The implications of
What they did; if anything,
It had become worse,
Setting the stage for
Chronic stuntedness.
She toiled in obscurity
For many years and
Suddenly became an
Overnight success.
Where before she couldn’t
Even give away her talent,
Now there was not enough
Of it to satisfy the
Clamoring masses hungry
For a piece of her magic.
She remembers all the
Years of struggle,
Laments the countless
Millions who haven’t yet
Been discovered,
Understands the fleeting
Nature of fame,
The role of chance,
The risk of forgetting
What really matters.
Meeting at a business mixer,
Exchanging half smiles,
Striking up a conversation
About a mutually shared
Interest, profession.
After only a few sentences,
The insecurity kicks in,
Denigrating what the other does
To make oneself feel better,
More important.
Cycle of pathetic competition,
Broken people stepping on
Each others’ heads to
Continue avoiding
Looking inward.
You’ll find it
At the top of the hill,
In that house no one
Lives in anymore,
Where that one family
Nobody talks about
Endured all those
Unmentionable things,
Collective loss of
Memory, the weight of
What we actually are.
They are entrusted
With the responsibility
Of governing, moving
The country forward.
They commence their
Solemn duty with the
Only thing that makes
Any sense to them:
Steeply boosting funding for
Waging war and drastically
Cutting programs that
Help the poor.
Waking up, another
Fear-infested day,
Reading the headlines
Stemming directly from
His own toxicity,
Him, there but for
Circumstance, separation of
Only moment and location,
Already part of the
Horror, anticipating the
Inevitable conclusion.
Something happens at some point,
A troubling change of demeanor,
The life leaves her eyes,
Optimism and hope succumb to
Baser beliefs inculcated long ago
And exploited anew more recently,
The need to be loved erasing
Reason, empathy, decency.
An unsettling timbre infiltrates
Her voice, a syrupy monotone
Masquerading as moderation.
She aligns herself with her oppressors,
Sympathizing with their plight,
Helping to promote a false narrative
Shamelessly smeared with fear and hate.
She loses her self,
Becoming a champion for injustice,
Reveling in the calculated support
She receives from the darkness.
They see her coming, they always do.
A ragtag group of
People unhappy with
Where the country is going
Assemble to voice
Their anger at a
System that has
Let them down.
Waving flags,
Chanting slogans,
United in their vitriol,
They rail against
The people who aren’t
Making their lives
More difficult.
In a Swiss bank account
A tidy fortune slumbers,
Carefully tucked in
By one of the few
Who betrays the trust
Of the many, turning them
Against their only allies.
