Don’t do this, don’t do that.
Don’t you listen? Do it like this.
How many times do I have to
Repeat myself? I’m getting tired of
Always having to show you
How to do this. Don’t you
Get it? Don’t you have any
Common sense?
There’s a right way to do things.
I know what’s right for you.
I am the law. I’m doing it because
I love you. I know the way.
I’m just trying to help you avoid the
Mistakes I made. Do as I say, not
As I do. I’m the one in control here.
Never having been
In an inferior position,
He pontificates at length
About success, hard work,
Bootstraps, freedom.
Money earned through
Mettle, tenacity, inheritance.
Not a single day of struggle
In his résumé.
Martini swirling in pristine glass.
A study in self-gratification,
Narcissistic dullard,
Seeking validation only for himself,
A broken shell of unfeeling
Smuggery.
So she listened to what everyone said and
Found herself no closer to happiness than
When she started. Something missing,
Fleeting motivation, satisfaction absent.
A gift she didn’t want, need, appreciate.
Taking a quiet walk along a small stream,
Ideas make their appearance.
Not that one, not this one, what will people think.
Stop. Listen to the only one who matters,
Who knows you, who can decide.
Unwanted from the beginning,
Life commencing inauspiciously,
Another number, afterthought,
Second-class citizen.
Relegated to menial status,
Societal constructs,
Hierarchies arbitrarily imposed,
Entrenched oppression.
Prearranged,
Chattel to be
Traded to the
Highest bidder.
In it for what
He can get,
Complicit with
Pocket-lining buddies.
Emotionless
Polished carcass.
Who cares about
The little guy,
Let him fend for himself,
Delusions of
Individualism
Dancing in his head.
An old man at the edge of a cliff
Looking over a majestic canyon,
A roiling slash of river running far below.
So many years past, opportunities missed,
Pleas ignored, withered heart.
A small hand in his reminding him of
Inescapable matters. A quick look down, a
Reassuring smile masks somber memories.
He closes his eyes and feels the breeze
On his body, the sun on his face, the
Vastness of the landscape, a speck of
Insignificance perched on the precipice.
Life perdures uninterrupted but for
Those denied solace by fear and gall.
They’re furious because of
Being called out for
Reprehensible conduct,
Something they’ve always
Gotten away with,
Never had to think about,
Rudely pushing
Their weight around,
With no repercussions,
Boorish louts behaving
Disrespectfully and
Never paying for it,
Now upset that
Things are changing.
Groomed in a
Culture of
Fervent belief,
Indoctrinated
By fist,
Attaches self
To grimly severe concepts,
Slaking a
Lack of inner power.
Disjointed inside,
Inability to empathize,
Struggle to survive
Primordial,
No other being
Matters.
Don’t tell me that you didn’t hear
Me. My voice is omnipotent and I
Take great pains to raise it adequately
When I need you to pay attention.
Are you listening? I can’t tell whether
You are or not through my cascade of
Verbiage mercilessly engulfing everything
In its wake. Unnoticed, the sound of
Another voice, doused.
