She raises her hand
To answer a question,
A tattered book used
By many classes before
Her lays on her scarred
Desk in a room with
Peeling paint, torn floors,
Water-stained ceiling tiles.
He’s been incapable of
Accepting that
Times are changing and
That his exclusive club
Now lets in members
Who don’t look like him and,
He fears, will unravel
The whole scam.
Each key means something,
I try to make sense of it all,
Tapping randomly with
Little purpose beyond
Filling empty space.
It would be nice if at least
Part of it were meaningful,
But I know it’s not,
Nor do I expect it to be,
Unless something changes.
There are times when
She still speaks to me
In the middle of some
Mundane task or
Important event.
I’m grateful to hear
Her, remembering what
It was like to
Have her near.
Supervising yet another
Renovation to her mansion,
She hears a worker
Utter some words in a
Foreign tongue and
Quickly admonishes him
To speak English, without
Any consideration for
A fellow human being’s
Plight or life experience,
Ignoring the glaring reality
That not everyone has parents
Who read and write in
Their own native language,
Let alone a new one,
But it’s much easier to
Chastise someone for not
Being able to speak one’s
Preferred patter than
It is to understand
Their story.
I guess I expected
Something else but,
As usual,
The same thing happened
And I’m left feeling
The same inadequacies,
Which is what I’ve
Always done.
Their dead eyes
Reflect a dearth of
Self-love, which
Affects their ability
To care for anyone else,
Which, in turn, makes
It exceedingly difficult
To build a society where
People care for each other.
The good news is that
People can change,
And have demonstrated
Time after time that
It’s possible to live
From a place of kindness.
A group of people
Living in peace and harmony,
Supporting each other for
The common good.
One person emerges
Who craves a larger slice of
The pie for himself,
To fill a hole.
Balance interrupted,
Collaboration obstructed,
A test of their
Collective conscience.
A complete absence of self-awareness,
Manifesting as the total lack of
Ability to see the effect of one’s
Toxic actions on others,
Perpetuating an unchanging
Cycle of discomfort and suffering
Mangling anything in its path and
Rendering reason insignificant.
Swimming against a torrent,
The suffocating swirls of hurt
Pulling one down until
No self remains.
