With the illegal
Installation of
The regime came
An unrelenting
Wave of avarice
That destroyed
Everything
In its path.
A vicious gutting
Of the middle class
With extreme prejudice.
There’s a hierarchy
That needs to be
Preserved here.
Infected mantra,
Regardless of
The situation,
Money matters
More than people.
A cacophonous din
Arises, obscuring
The obvious fact that
Someone else’s rights
Have been horribly
Infringed upon.
Manufactured outrage,
Grab the pitchforks
And storm the castle,
Preserve the privilege
Of the people who
Least deserve it.
Continuous loop of
Intentional untruths,
Slickly packaged
Obfuscation.
Constant stream of
Hatred, bigotry.
Extreme bias peddled
As normal.
A slow poisoning
Of the environment,
Progress grinding
To a standstill.
Smug, detached,
Filth-spewing mannequins,
Their masters
Absconding with the money.
August chambers
Populated by zombies
Driven by their
Lust for power.
Decisions motivated
Not by compassion
Or principle, but by
Opportunism and greed.
When the only goal
Is retention of power,
The natural outcome is
Mediocrity and dysfunction.
Gradual progression
Toward greater humanity,
Compassion, kept from
Developing by a fiercely
Determined subset who
Resist any change,
All change,
In any form,
For any reason,
In perpetuity.
Blocking every attempt
To make the world a
Softer place that
Takes care of
Its inhabitants.
Chanting twisted slogans,
Dog eat dog,
Survival of the fittest,
Self-sufficiency,
Rallying cries of
The self-interested.
His life
Expendable,
Skin color
Being a determinant
Factor in assessing
The lack of value of a
Human being.
Death sentence
Delivered by a shell of
A person,
Images of his father
Shouting at him
Playing on a never-ending
Loop in his head.
Shrug it off,
Fabricate some middle school
Quality explanation of
What happened,
Those predisposed will
Buy it, he did what
He had to do.
They look the other way
When one of their own
Goes after those they fear,
A revolting alliance of
Bigots defending a
Foul state of affairs,
Dismissive of people
Who have genuine grievances,
Eager agents of supremacy,
The putrid face of
Unbridled privilege.
He’s taking a shower,
Just like he has for
Fifty years.
Lather here,
Lather there,
The usual routine except that
For the last few months
He’s noticed that his
Soap bar, the same brand
He’s used since the seventies,
Is smaller and carved into
Some kind of strange
Space-age, high-tech shape.
Tapered in the middle,
Scooped out on top,
He can’t seem to get
More than a few days use
Out if it before it breaks
In half or dissolves.
Angry, he tries other brands
Only to find
They’re all the same,
Not an honest deal to be found
Any longer.
Uncontrolled hubris,
Little guy shafted.
Standing before him,
The height differential
Remarkable,
One clearly above
The other,
As it’s always been.
Intentionally setting
People apart so that
One side has no idea
What the other
Feels, thinks,
Endures.
Smug self-righteousness,
Smoldering revulsion,
An opportunity for mercy
Squandered,
Order preserved,
Nonchalantly caged.
