It’s just an entry-level gig
For teenagers looking to make
Money to buy clothes.
It’s not meant to be a
Full-time career or
Support a family.
It’s really just a way to
Get your foot in the door and
Later move up.
It would hurt companies too
Much if they paid more
Than they do.
A long, oppressive
Period of darkness
Ushers in a
New world order.
Social contract between
Corporations and people
Shredded, allowed to
Roam free, relentlessly
Preying on their victims.
No pretense of ethics or
Honesty remaining,
Salivating predation
The norm,
Fleece the herd and
Retire gleefully to
Baronial excess.
Sitting in the dark
Clutching what he sees
As the last vestiges
Of his power and prestige.
Things have changed too much,
They’re just not the same
As when he was growing up,
Burdensome reality.
Everything was better when
Things rightfully went his way,
Not because of who he was,
Just by random chance.
Eternal struggle between
Those who believe the
World is there solely for
Their own benefit
And others who think that
We’re all on this planet
Together, so why not
Try to help one another.
If history is any predictor,
Only one side prevails,
The unteachable nature of
Those who desperately crave
Self-aggrandizement at
The expense of all else
Being too deep-seated and
Aggressive an impulse.
Shining moments of hope
Arrive only to be quashed
By unswayable narcissists.
Acutely uncomfortable with
The raw pain he hears gushing
From the other end of the line,
He goes to his standard
Responsibility-shirking retort,
Diverting attention while
Further wounding his victim.
He wins the battle without
Realizing he’s lost everything else.
He breathes a sigh of relief,
At least he didn’t have
To admit to anything.
A scenario briefly flashes
In his mind, unhinged parents
Directing their rage at him,
His desperate attempts
To escape at any cost.
Enjoying an
Unconscious rush from
Imposing his will,
Making other people
Do what he wants,
Forcing them to believe
What he believes,
A reviving electric pulse
For a common poltroon.
Discount orator
Moralizing smugly about
Outmoded, discredited notions.
Uneasy face showing the toll of
Humanity replaced with contempt.
A daily trip to the office
Where more faulty decisions
Are to be made about
Innocent people’s lives.
Fortress built
One impenetrable,
Insurmountable block
At a time.
Walls several feet thick,
Impeding progress,
Natural tide held back
If only for a while.
Looking over their shoulders
At adversaries
Perpetually storming
The walls.
Stop being so hard.
I can’t.
Stop being so mean.
I won’t.
Stop being so controlling.
I refuse.
O.K. Continue as you are.
I will.
Afraid he’ll lose
His stuff, position,
Rank, privileges,
He concocts a vision of
An idyllic realm
Where every man
Fends for himself.
Survival of the fittest,
Each his own island,
The market shall provide.
Keep those leeches off
The dole, level the
Playing field to
Exclusionary perfection.
No need to cogitate about
The complexities of community,
Selfless caring for
Fellow human beings,
Just leave it to the
Marauding packs of
Feral creatures.
