As if their circumstances
Were caused by some
Deficiency of character,
Some cultural proclivity
Leading to destitution.
Latent hatred masquerading
As fact, blanket statements
Smothering the light,
Assumptions based on
Equivocation, obfuscation.
Marginalization.
Keeping them in their place,
Where they belong,
Away from us in our
Bastion of cowardice.
Why is it that everyone in my
Office works so hard on being
So rude? Would it be so difficult
For people to be nice instead of
Condescending and snide?
What is the allure of creating chaos and
Disturbance when peace and balance are
Viable options? People walk around with
Their inner processes on their sleeves,
Working out their issues on each other.
I remain silent, unrecognized.
Cold indifference
Permeates the minds of legislators
Posing as conviction.
An insidious malady
Steeped in pain, fear, enmity,
Driving compassion away,
Replacing it with punishing policies
Harming hard-working citizens
Whose only mistake is
Lack of power.
Intense suspicion of government
Spawns initiatives
Gutting vital services
Leaving a desolate landscape,
A walled-in mansion surrounded
By a scarred wasteland.
Destitute souls walk aimlessly
Across the bleak landscape
For someone else’s anxieties.
Don’t do this, don’t do that.
Don’t you listen? Do it like this.
How many times do I have to
Repeat myself? I’m getting tired of
Always having to show you
How to do this. Don’t you
Get it? Don’t you have any
Common sense?
There’s a right way to do things.
I know what’s right for you.
I am the law. I’m doing it because
I love you. I know the way.
I’m just trying to help you avoid the
Mistakes I made. Do as I say, not
As I do. I’m the one in control here.
Never having been
In an inferior position,
He pontificates at length
About success, hard work,
Bootstraps, freedom.
Money earned through
Mettle, tenacity, inheritance.
Not a single day of struggle
In his résumé.
Martini swirling in pristine glass.
A study in self-gratification,
Narcissistic dullard,
Seeking validation only for himself,
A broken shell of unfeeling
Smuggery.
So she listened to what everyone said and
Found herself no closer to happiness than
When she started. Something missing,
Fleeting motivation, satisfaction absent.
A gift she didn’t want, need, appreciate.
Taking a quiet walk along a small stream,
Ideas make their appearance.
Not that one, not this one, what will people think.
Stop. Listen to the only one who matters,
Who knows you, who can decide.
Unwanted from the beginning,
Life commencing inauspiciously,
Another number, afterthought,
Second-class citizen.
Relegated to menial status,
Societal constructs,
Hierarchies arbitrarily imposed,
Entrenched oppression.
Prearranged,
Chattel to be
Traded to the
Highest bidder.
In it for what
He can get,
Complicit with
Pocket-lining buddies.
Emotionless
Polished carcass.
Who cares about
The little guy,
Let him fend for himself,
Delusions of
Individualism
Dancing in his head.
An old man at the edge of a cliff
Looking over a majestic canyon,
A roiling slash of river running far below.
So many years past, opportunities missed,
Pleas ignored, withered heart.
A small hand in his reminding him of
Inescapable matters. A quick look down, a
Reassuring smile masks somber memories.
He closes his eyes and feels the breeze
On his body, the sun on his face, the
Vastness of the landscape, a speck of
Insignificance perched on the precipice.
Life perdures uninterrupted but for
Those denied solace by fear and gall.
