Short Free Verse Poems about the Human Condition

Squeeze

They’re running out of ways
To squeeze more money
Out of them.

They’ve lowered their wages,
Raised gas prices,
Increased grocery costs.

Bank fees levied,
Cell phone service astronomical,
Cable TV costs prohibitive.

Health care obscene,
College tuition impossible,
Mortgages unaffordable.

There’s only so much juice
You can extract from a fruit
Before it withers.

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Fund-Raiser

Such a grand fund-raiser,
Everyone dressed to the nines,
Flashing sequins, air kisses,
Hearty handshakes,
Blindingly white teeth,
Taught, shiny faces.
Impeccable pedigrees announced
At the door (new money
Will get you in too)
A chance to hobnob with
The movers and shakers,
Support a worthy cause,
The joy of charitable
Giving to perpetuate
The established order.

Crouch

Breathe in, for it will be a while
Before you can do it again.
Guard against marauding
Chimeras salivating for your soul.
Defensive posture, ready to
Strike at the smallest provocation
If need be (and there always is).
Don’t let them take anything from
You, crouch, crouch.

Megalomaniacs

Pervasive greed
Supersedes everything else
As they make their
Way through
Stately corridors
Where, notably,
But not to them,
Their predecessors have
Made decisions that
Would benefit the
Greater good rather
Than fill the
Shaking hands of
Rotten megalomaniacs.

Self-Satisfied

It’s become some
Sort of sick joke,
Essential staples becoming
Cheaper, smaller,
A brazen ripoff.
In some opulent room in
Another vainglorious high-rise,
A group of self-satisfied
Men in tailored suits
Justify their existence by
Reducing the size of
Vital necessities.
They break for lunch,
Boasting about how they
Just scored some more
Money for the one percent,
Squeezing and discarding
Everyone else.

Obsolete Patterns

All these years
Thinking things were
A certain way,
Only to find that
He was completely mistaken.

Novel insights
Brought about by years of
Self-examination,
Concerted shift in
Thinking over time.

Swirling feelings of
Loss and anger,
Relief and hope,
New opportunities unhampered
By obsolete patterns.

To Be Seen

Look at me, look at me.
I want to be seen, I want to be seen.
Here’s my cat, here’s my cat.
I’m drinking coffee, I’m drinking coffee.
I’m so down, I’m so down.
I’m so up, I’m so up.
Message me, message me.
Talk to me, talk to me.
Are you there? Are you there?
I’m here, I’m here.
Look at me, look at me.

Movers and Shakers

How easily he forgets
That success is very often
Not the result of pluck,
Or toil, or self-determination.

Talking to a group of colleagues
In an opulent board room,
The grind of the outside world
Doesn’t show its gnarled face.

Smug in their affluence,
Brash movers and shakers,
Out on the streets but
For the whim of fortune.

Minimum Balance

Deposit your hard-earned
Money with us,
We’ll take care of you.

By the way,
There’s a minimum balance
Required to keep your account open.

There’s a fee
If you dip below the balance
At any time, for any reason.

We should mention that
There’s a charge
For using your debit card.

Oh, there’s also a
Fee if you use the ATM
More than a couple of times.

Rest assured, we’ll make sure to wait
To deposit your funds to increase
The chance of overdrafts.

We love to charge you
To use your money
To enrich ourselves.

Thank you for
Banking with us,
We appreciate your business.