They recognize each other,
Indistinguishable,
Echoing the same message,
No divergence of thought,
Satisfied with repeating
Common duplicate drivel,
Absence of critical thinking,
Ordinariness esteemed,
Swimming with the stream.
What a difference
Between the person who
Feels the suffering
Of another human being
And the one who can’t,
Or won’t.
What dissimilar
Paths they travel and
Worlds create,
One caring,
The other harsh, cruel.
Violent, rigid parenting
Forming people who see
The world as a harsh,
Adversarial nightmare where
Countless imaginary enemies
Must be forced into submission.
An unquenchable yearning for safety;
Single-minded conquest,
Remorseless cruelty.
It’s always the same story,
The damaged imposing their
Will on the vulnerable,
But it doesn’t have to
Be this way.
Pontificating about how
We all need to
Come together and
How important community is,
Conveniently overlooking
The reprehensible beliefs
He holds that created
The problem
In the first place.
Inside him burns a
Fervent urge to go up to
Someone and tell them
What to do.
Unable to look at himself,
He finds ways to
Obnoxiously impose his
Insecurities on others,
Wrapping them in platitudes
About caring for humanity
Or being a moral person,
Obscuring the truth of
His twisted existence,
The need to stand
On someone’s head,
Feel safe for a moment.
When the people
At the top
Don’t listen to
Those at the bottom,
Terrible upheavals
Can, and do, occur.
As history has shown,
Someone will always
Be ready to fill the void,
Offering strength,
Safety, order,
A return to something.
One hopes people
Understand the
Difference between
Using one’s voice
To protect the vulnerable
And screeching to
Keep someone down.
Once she was gone,
Everyone’s personality
Came into high relief,
Often with unpleasant
Ramifications.
No one could return
To how things used to be,
Struggling to function
In new roles they were
Ill-suited for.
Fraying at the edges
Leading to complete
Disintegration,
Personal needs severing
Fragile ties.
