An easy way
To destroy democracy:
Pretend that all
Points of view are
Equivalent,
No matter how false,
Misguided, or hurtful.
Make sure all the
Voices that want to
Build a kinder world
For everyone are
Lumped in with the ones
Seduced by fear,
Cruelty, and lust for power.
Make believe
All ideas have equal merit,
Until facts don’t matter
And we lose our sense of
The greater good.
Enamored with positions of
Supposed authority,
Constantly fixated on
Self-preservation,
Uneasy, imbalanced, suspicious,
Routinely unenlightened,
Limiting growth,
Punishing change,
Loathing insight,
Enabling dysfunction,
Shunning anyone who
Doesn’t fall in line,
Ordinariness covering for itself.
Parts of me,
My history,
Strewn about in
Different places,
Unrecognized by
Anyone else,
Fragments of a
Bygone time,
Vivid in my mind only.
A heavy sigh,
How it all passes.
He goes off on yet
Another long-winded and
Excruciatingly boring commentary
On some topic he thinks
Makes him appear erudite but
Is really just another
Desperate attempt to be
More important than others,
Trying to overcome the
Voices of disapproval that
Won’t leave him alone
No matter what his title.
In this family
We keep secrets,
Protect oppressors,
Condone behaviors
That cause
Lasting damage,
Pretend everything
Is perfect,
Scornfully reject
Ideas that might
Make things better,
Never growing,
Just maintaining.
She insists that she
Loves doing this
Soulless thing that
Makes her a lot of money,
Yet one can’t help but
Wonder whether,
As a child,
She looked at the clouds
And thought to herself
That she wanted to be
What she is now.
At the end of his life,
He realizes that
His crowning achievement
Was to live in
All-consuming fear of
Everything and everyone,
Choice gifts bestowed
Upon him by a fist,
Dismissive look.
Sometimes, if he
Closes his eyes tightly,
He can just barely
Picture a place
He never dared visit,
Where he’s smiling.
Sitting in the airport,
It dawns on him
That he needs to stop
Trying to be someone
He’s not,
Move beyond the persona
He’s carefully devised
To avoid facing his fears and
Pursuing his dreams.
He hears the boarding call
As he walks away.
He writes something kind
About me and I, instead of
Simply thanking him or
Savoring the moment,
Immediately wonder why he
Didn’t say something more effusive,
Doubting whether I’m good enough,
The compliment rendered null,
Insecurity extinguishing joy.
