Take
Day 31
Begin meetings with
Cronies who have
Agreed to split their
Take with me
Shuffle money my
Way maintain
False fronts to
Obscure my efforts to
Pay myself
Handsomely
Impose
Itching for a fight,
Show them who’s boss,
Impose order,
Protect the community
From people like them.
A routine day,
Surveying their domain,
Stalking the next victim,
Taking away another’s dignity,
Excessive overreaction,
Unnecessary assaults,
Quenching a blood thirst.
Paragons of virtue
Castigating with impunity,
Dutifully toiling,
Subdue and harass
Those animals.
I Don’t Care
I don’t care
What you say,
I’m going to
Walk over there,
Right now, and
Sit on that waffle.
Extraction
Countless felled by
Machines that cannot –
Will not – be stopped
By ravenous overlords.
The extraction of
The soul through
Bombast, pomp,
Promised happiness.
Unsympathetic ears
Only hear the
Clinking of metal
Upon shining metal.
No life is precious
In this universe of
Cold numbers,
Figures, subterfuge.
Again
He candidly shares
His personal story
Of self-reliance,
Hard work, family values,
Community, (family money).
He wants to change the world by
Reducing the size of the government
And putting power back
Where it belongs:
In the hands of business.
He fires off specious statistics about
How poorly we’re doing and
How much things have declined,
Due to the reactionary policies
He emphatically champions.
His unflinching eyes betray
Not a hint of compassion,
The irony of the colossal joke
He’s animatedly urging people to
Believe in, again.
New Him
No one could identify the exact
Moment when he turned the corner.
It might have been the death of his
Brother, or an unexpected call
Announcing he was to be a father, or
His hours being cut at the plant.
Regardless, he showed no exterior
Signs of discomfort except for the
Occasional grumpy comment.
He went on as if everything was
Business as usual, the new him
Gradually revealed.
Reverse the Flow
I don’t care when I kill a dream
Unintentionally and do
Everything in my power to
Not think about it much.
I hate when I kill a dream
Unintentionally and do
Everything in my power to
Reverse the flow.
Unravel
They say they believe
In self-reliance.
They gladly accept government
Help when they need it.
They vote for candidates
That destroy the services they use.
They present themselves as caring and
Support marginalizing others.
They claim to be patriots
While destroying fellow citizens.
Their lack of internal soundness
Creates suffering for millions.
Without the slightest sense of irony,
They unravel the fabric of society.
Wielding
Knocked around as a kid
He has a thing for weapons
And getting into it with others.
He’s always had to toughen up
Even when it seemed weird,
Never made him feel better.
Barely made it through high school,
His career path was set anyway,
Serving up some justice.
Wielding a club that gives him
Power he never had before,
Time to show his stuff.