An arrangement where we
Have no choice but
To conform to survive,
Think of ourselves
In terms of a group,
Embrace tribalism,
Accept dysfunction
As normal,
Our view of ourselves
Filtered through the
Unmet needs of others,
Expected to
Perpetuate the debacle
Or be cast out.
They walk into the place
For the first time in
Many years, expecting the
Same feelings to wash
Over them: youth, excitement,
Spontaneity, life in
Bloom and effervescence;
They quickly realize you
Can’t recreate what was
Once there, and locales
Like this only welcome
You once before moving on.
Walking down the street
On the way to the store
One fine summer day,
He encounters an older
Woman who looks at him
With dread and hastily
Moves away from him
As he wonders what
Just happened, later
Realizing it was what
It has always been.
The imposition of will
Requires no thoughtfulness,
Just the compulsion to force
Someone else to be a person
They are not, to demand
Adherence to some arbitrary,
Ever-shifting whim, fealty
To the pouting child who
Wants his toy right now.
There came a time
When it was virtually
Impossible to have
Any kind of civil
Conversation with him,
All traces of humanity
And rationality had
Been surreptitiously
Extirpated from his mind,
Leaving only an angry shell.
Never having endured
A single day of discrimination,
Or been treated differently solely
Because of how they look –
Deemed to be less than human –
Traded as a commodity
To enrich soulless captors,
They declare that all strife
Is over, deep historical,
Personal wounds glossed-over
In a single cavalier pronouncement,
The suffering of millions
Reduced to a sound bite
Promulgated by thoughtless louts.
He’s building a sumptuous
Penthouse appointed with
The most lavish details
And plush furnishings
For his surgically-enhanced wife
Who refuses to succumb
To the effects of aging
(Not that he hasn’t visited
Their favorite surgeon as well).
No expense is spared in
Building this magnificent
Showcase overlooking the ocean.
Once a month or so,
He tours the construction site,
Demanding that this or that
Be changed or noting that something
Isn’t quite to specifications
(A pastime his wife enjoys too).
The workers nod accommodatingly,
Finish another long shift, and
Go home to their shacks.
Fair faces sitting
Around a table
Jovially sharing a
Meal served by
Darker complexions.
Their ancestors
Ran the railroads,
Built industries,
Took advantage of
Hapless inhabitants.
Entrenched gentry
Favoring a certain
Type of look,
Lineage,
Connections.
Walking into a room,
Unpleasant realization,
No one else like you,
No one shares any of
Your sensibility.
Unnuanced,
Coarse environment,
Guarded people
Hiding behind walls of
Small talk.
