Short Free Verse Poems about the Human Condition

Save Our Nation

They bellow angrily about the
Urgent need to save our nation
From becoming a nightmarish
Place where everyone is
Treated equally, where each
Person enjoys the same opportunity
Regardless of who their parents are or
Where they live, a place
Where anyone can marry, where
No one walking down the street
Has to fear being shot by a
Fellow citizen or symbols in uniform,
Where a few rich people can’t
Own everything and leave nothing
For everyone else, where the deck
Isn’t stacked against you because of
What you look like,
Where we work together as a
Community instead of eyeing
Each other with suspicion,
Where we care for one another
Instead of trying to win.

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Vanquishing

She calls a closed-door
Meeting to denigrate
The object of her scorn,
Win the latest fabricated battle
Against a monster with
The temerity to follow
A different path,
Lust for power mutilating truth,
Maiming kindness,
Destroying the innocent
To reassure herself she didn’t lose.

Bramble

As he sits alone at
The kitchen table,
In the middle of the night,
Under the unsettling glare
Of a single light bulb,
He wonders when he might
Get some sleep,
Whether the voices will
Ever quiet down enough
To let him rest.
Somewhere deep inside
He knows the answer but
It is hidden in a choking
Bramble of avoidance.

What They’re Accustomed To

It’s clear that they
Are unable to understand
What it’s like to be
Systematically put down,
To have your choices limited,
Your very humanity challenged
Because of the color of your skin,
The fear that courses
Through your veins when you
Feel the disdain they
Have for you because they’re
Unwilling to give up what
They’re accustomed to and
Have gained at your expense.

As If

I look at the words
But they don’t elicit any
Kind of memory,
As if it all had
Never happened.

Chore

The washer and dryer
Sit unused since
Her death;
He says she really
Did a great job
With them.
He doesn’t use them,
Not because he doesn’t
Know how to, but because
He thinks it’s a chore
Better left to
Someone else.

Business Executives

Innocent people die
Because business
Executives desire
The extra money to
Build giant
Swimming pools in
The desert.

Human beings live,
Thrive, enjoy life,
Because the business
Executives care
For something
More than
Personal gain.

Culture of Violence

Culture of violence:
Shots ring out with no one
Courageous enough to
Do something about it,
Even when children die.

Culture of violence:
Women systematically
Put down, controlled,
Pumping out babies for
Some dominant reactionary.

Culture of violence:
Children hit for not
Following draconian,
Arbitrary rules imposed
By broken parents.

Culture of violence:
Innocent people killed
For nothing else than
The color of their skin
And someone’s insecurity.

Culture of violence:
Marginalizing and ostracizing
Human beings who don’t
Look or sound like
The herd.

Culture of violence:
Having their rights denied
Because of whom they love,
Being made to feel
Less than others.

Culture of violence:
People in power shaping
The rules to benefit
Only them, relegating
Others to deprivation.

Culture of violence:
Permanent war ripping
Apart bodies, psyches,
Families, the fabric
Of civilized society.

Culture of violence:
Shaping discourse to fit
A narrative of hate
And fear instead of
Hope, kindness, peace.

Hard-Working People

It’s been too long
Since Dad had a job
Though he dutifully looks
For one; Mom hasn’t had
Any luck either.
They make enough money
To fall behind, at
So-called entry level
Jobs for teens
That are actually
The only source of income
For large segments of
The population, honest
Hard-working people who
Were not born into the
Right family or happened
To be at the right place
At the right time or
Were willing to profit
At the expense of others.