When he switched careers,
Nobody understood,
Unable to fit him
Into the boxes they had
Previously put him in.
They furrowed their
Brows, perplexed,
Trying to reanimate
A dull static image:
Outdated,
Inaccurate,
Comfortable.
Unable to grasp
The meaning in this
Unforeseen turn of events,
They wander off
To consort with
Their falsities.
Awakening from the nightmare,
Historic opportunity to
Boldly demarcate the
Difference between
Right and wrong –
Truth and mendacity –
Reality versus fiction.
Rectify callous denigrating,
Pillaging, looting, subjugating.
Inestimable moment
Squandered in the name of
Equivalence, civility.
Abject lack of courage,
Worsening suffering,
Inability to change course.
Saying the things that
Need to be said but are
Kept locked away as if
It diminishes their import.
They talk in a new way,
Leaving behind the secrets
And discomfort that
Choke off reality.
Possibilities unfurl,
A path hidden under the
Overgrowth, a new
Existence revealed.
Nothing left for me
To say except for
I wish it had ended sooner.
It wasn’t so much
That you were annoying as
The complete absence of decorum.
Repository of unawareness,
A dimly lit wit
Imposing itself on everyone,
Coughing fit of nonsense,
Gleefully spewed upon us.
I would bet anything
You had no clue it happened,
Habits being what they are,
On to the next offense.
I finally speak my mind,
Saying things I should
Have years ago but never
Was permitted to or had
The courage to reveal.
My effort is met with
Silence, an impenetrable
Wall of defensiveness and
Hurt that no sound breaches.
I recognize it’s
Always been this way.
They handed him his
New lock and combination.
He walked down the long
Hallways searching for
His designated spot,
A lonely number in a
Sea of bodies
Oblivious to
His circumstance.
She walks a half-hour
To the well,
Waiting her turn to
Lower a stained
Plastic bucket down
A hole to the
The brackish water
That will be in
That night’s soup.
She heads back,
Tilting to one side,
Looking down at
The garbage-strewn
Pathway, a dog
Scampering away.
Do as I say,
There are rules in this house,
Confess your trespasses,
Obey us without questioning,
Don’t stray from the norm,
Keep your thoughts to yourself.
Delicate, vulnerable beings
Ground up and extruded,
Forced into a mold greased with
Insecurity and fear.
Unmet needs, unfinished business.
Creativity, humanity desecrated.
I told her my worth,
Through my actions,
What I would
Settle for,
Such was my desperation.
She gleefully accepted,
Repeatedly indulging in
My diminished sense of
Self — the overtly needy
Kindness of someone
Not yet confident.
A lesson lost on me
Until I was ready.
