What are you being?
What have you become?
Walking down the street
Looking down,
Not up,
Not around,
Hoping to blend in
With the surroundings,
Pass through unnoticed
So no one can utter
What you already know.
Human beings regularly
Show extraordinary altruism,
Helping each other in
Times of desperation,
Supporting one another
Without expectation of
Personal gain, building
Caring bonds across social
And cultural lines.
Former strangers become
Close friends through
Gestures of kindness.
It’s been proven over and over
That people don’t have to fight,
That they can share resources
Rather than compete,
Transcend greed and coexist
In peace and harmony,
As long as they don’t heed
Those who have something to
Gain from perpetual discord.
Two brothers grow up
In the same family.
It’s not a particularly
Wonderful or unusual environment,
Filled with constant berating and
The weight of persistent unhappiness.
Nobody is praised in this house
And everyone is encouraged,
Both explicitly and implicitly,
To adopt the view that the world is
A hopeless place where you
Take your lumps and deal with it,
Grab what’s yours and hang on.
Not much light enters, but
That’s not the end of the story.
The boys grow up. One never escapes
The shadows of his past, the other
Helps people blossom.
A flaring
Celestial body
Sucking everything in
Toward itself,
Unable to appreciate anything
But its own existence,
Nonreciprocal,
Alone,
Inflated.
Leading tours of his family’s
Plantation, the owner beams
About how beautiful and tidy
Everything is and how
Happy everyone was about
Working there in the past
And what a great family
They have in the present
And what a wonderful time
Is commemorated by the
Whole endeavor, and not for
A moment does he acknowledge
That it was all built on
The backs of enslaved people
And neither do most of his
Guests, the same ones raving
About how magnificent it all is.
She walks the other way,
Even though she recognizes
Him from a distance,
Some things are better
Left unaddressed rather
Than reanimated, causing
Further discomfort and pain.
It’s not so much that she
Can’t handle it but, rather,
That it’s not worth
Expending the energy on
To resolve in any way.
Her life different now,
No need to revisit.
Government isn’t some
Arbitrary concept, some
Set of rules that is
Imposed by an abstract actor,
It’s a reflection
Of the human beings who
Have designed it. If they
Don’t care for each other
And function out of greed
And selfishness, their
Government will reflect those
Particular preferences,
If they care for one another
And value the greater good,
Then their government will
Do the same. There’s no magic
To it, the people get what
They champion or tolerate.
How easy it would be
To build one less room
In one’s third mega-mansion,
Pass on one additional
Exotic car, schedule
One less lavish party for
Well-heeled friends where
The bill for the champagne
Alone is more than the
Salaries of the staff
Dutifully attending guests,
Go on one less extravagant
Vacation to Monaco,
In order to build a
World where everyone has
A chance to succeed.
No one needs a one-hundredth
Expensive pair of shoes or
Custom suit when other
Human beings struggle
To find their next meal.
It wasn’t always this way,
Things were better
At one point,
But probably not,
Knowing what I know now.
