He spent his entire life
Trying to avoid that
Feeling, the one he
Remembered from childhood
And never wanted to relive,
Constantly struggling to
Circumvent his inner pain,
Destroying all his
Relationships and making
A lot of people miserable.
He carried it deep inside
Until the very end.
A familiar refrain
Repeated decisively,
Peddled as truth:
Cut taxes on the rich,
The wealth will
Trickle down.
Years and years of
Following this fable
Yield nothing but the
Accumulation of vast
Fortunes by a few,
Famine for the rest.
The middle class shrinking,
The poor forgotten,
The affluent getting fatter,
Everyone else struggling
To run in place,
At the top, celebrating.
They tried to have a
Conversation but it never
Quite seemed to work,
Almost as if they came
From different countries
Or spoke languages the
Other couldn’t understand.
So, they kept it light,
Superficial, avoiding the
Bumps and anything that
Might resemble something
More meaningful.
Her actions negatively
Impacted them but
When they politely
Brought it up to her,
She took offense and
Blamed them,
Unable to admit fault
Or take responsibility
For her own behavior,
Leaving it unresolved,
As with much else
In her life.
A certain kind
Of pressured energy,
Dissatisfied agitation,
Surety of conviction.
Something didn’t go right,
Perhaps terribly wrong,
At some point,
The marks still evident.
A closing of the mind
To beauty, possibility,
Hope eclipsed by
Grim determination.
A fresh perspective,
Transcending discontent,
Revealing a new path
To compassion.
A sudden rush of
Self-inflicted everything,
Unstoppable motion initiated
By the realization that
We’re at the point where
Change is welcome and adventure
Alluring, the hum of possibility,
New experiences to become
Part of our story.
He’s spent most
Of his life wishing
For a time when
Everything would be
Different, a reprieve
From mundanity, failure,
A mostly tepid existence
Tinged in grey.
Today is the day it all
Changes, unless he has
Anything to say about it.
By all outward appearances
He had everything:
Huge mansion,
Vacation home,
Midtown apartment,
Fancy cars,
Private plane,
Yacht,
Perfect family,
Business empire,
More money than he could ever spend,
But it had cost him a lot.
He’d wake up at night
Wondering what it all meant,
Why the hole was never full,
Pervasive sadness,
Until he decided to start helping others,
People he didn’t even know,
For no reason other than being nice
And building a better world,
Kindness saved his life.
A full-time
Warehouse worker,
Unable to pay
Some outstanding
Parking tickets,
Finds himself in
A jail cell,
The full force of the
Judicial system
Against him.
An investment banker
Devises a scheme
That destroys
Countless lives,
Extinguishes untold dreams,
Bankrupts the country,
Enjoys a cool drink
By his pool,
Immunity in
Full force.
