Short Free Verse Poems about the Human Condition

The Myth of the Self-Made Man

The myth of the
Self-made man:
He rises from poverty and,
By sheer will,
Determination, and
Hard work becomes
Wildly successful,
All on his own.
The truth behind
The myth: The man
Was born into a
Society that allows
For success and provides
The governmental framework,
Social conditions,
Public services, and
Physical infrastructure
That permit someone
Like him to
Enjoy great fortune.
Another often-overlooked
Detail: The staggeringly
Monumental chance that the
Man is born in the right
Place and at the right time
To prosper.
Countless equally
Hard-working people don’t
Get the same breaks,
Don’t arrive at
The ideal time.
It could just as
Easily been him
Struggling for a lifetime.

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Nothing Works

We try everything we
Can think of and
Nothing works,
Consult experts
To no avail,
Wonder if it
Will ever pass.
Everything resolves itself,
We’re told,
While wondering whether
It’s true at all.

Rushing to Get Ready

Rushing to get ready
For some lavish function;
She barks a few orders
At the woman who cooks
All the meals, cleans
The whole house,
Raises her children,
And has a life, too.

A Fine Evening

A group of well-dressed,
Impeccably-coiffed
People relax in a
Posh restaurant,
Enjoying drinks and
Waiting for their order.
A light conversation
Rapidly becomes tense
When someone’s feelings
Are hurt which, in turn,
Causes someone else to
Become incensed, which
Leads to someone else crying
While two others argue
In the corner and someone
Else storms out of the room
On such a fine evening.

Another Try

So, let try this again,
He says with an exasperated
tone, the same one
She’s heard too many times.
Clenching her teeth,
She smiles and concedes.
Some things aren’t worth
Fighting over.
She plans her future.

Reign

They loathe public education
Because it makes it far
More likely that someone
Born into poverty will be
Able to transcend her station
And succeed in life, thus
Presenting an existential
Threat to those who are
Currently in power and
Fearful their reign shall
Not continue uninterrupted.

The Urge

He doesn’t like or
Understand himself,
So he imposes his will
On others in order to
Temporary placate
Whatever noise is going on
In his head, the urge to
Soothe the inner discomfort
Greater than anything else,
A stunning inability to
See anything beyond his
Own itching needs.

Want You Whole

Coercive,
Toxic,
Unaware.

Gnarled hands
Grabbing onto
Anything that lets them.

Sinking into
Authoritarian ooze;
Here’s what we expect.

Break away;
The broken don’t
Want you whole.

Division

Pander to fears and prejudices,
Devise a hated enemy to
Satiate the wrath of the mob,
Incite to violence.

Us versus them,
Someone else not quite as
Human as we are,
Different in some way.

Trash any impulse to
Collaborate with others,
Label them some horrible thing,
Untrue, unjustified, unhinged.

Fragmentation weakening foundations,
Eroding commonalities,
An opportunistic savior
Capitalizes on division.