To follow our dreams and live
Lives of boundless joy and fulfillment.
To freely celebrate ourselves and others,
Delightfully compassionate.
That’s not practical, say those who
Follow the rules, listen to others,
Do as told, muffle their muses, freely
Limit horizons.
Obsessed with conserving…
Conserving his own money,
Conserving his own beliefs,
Conserving his own rights,
His own territory,
His own race,
His own language,
Own social circle,
Own music.
Conserving his own idealized,
Whitewashed version of what the
Country looked like in the 1950s,
When everything was perfect and
There were no problems with
Uppity people trying to upset
The established order.
Everyone stayed in their place,
Knew what was expected.
You took care of your neighbors,
Kept undesirables out,
A perfect, homogeneous community,
Encircling some, excluding the rest.
His ardent aspiration
Is to belong to
The same clique that
Looks down on and oppresses
People like him,
A desperate yearning
To be part of a perceived
Power structure,
Identifying with a group
That considers him expendable.
A couple of friends walk down a
Leaf-strewn path, thin sunlight
Just warming their steps. A man
Walks toward them and nods
As he gets closer, they nod back.
Conversation turns to events
Gone by. Abstract time and
Moments become heavier and
More valuable as life passes.
I’m glad you’re here.
Me too.
Family of four,
Two working parents,
Each has two jobs —
Minimum wage,
Walk through the doors of a
Den of institutionalized mugging.
A clerk behind
Bulletproof glass
Perfunctorily walks them
Through the lawful robbery
Of their car,
A five-hundred dollar
Noose that quickly,
Mercilessly grows tighter.
Paperwork hastily completed,
A sleazy handshake and smile,
A saga dreadfully familiar.
Not long thereafter,
In the middle of the night,
A tow truck pulls up.
Hardened heart – unwhole –
Hoarding all his stuff,
The kid in the sandbox who won’t
Share his toys,
Hunkering down —
Frowning uncutely,
All the other kids
Uncomfortable.
Grows up,
No change – same story.
Lack of introspection
Cultivating circle of harshness,
Advancing suffering.
Bully in a suit,
Lifeless face,
Anesthetized eyes.
Under the pretense of
Tradition,
They support and perpetuate
The subjugation of
Vulnerable people,
Power being the sole objective,
Not any made-up story of
Adhering to long-standing custom,
Disgraceful lust for
Domination and superiority.
One day she decided to do
Something different and sing
Her own song. One day he decided
To do something different and
Write his own story.
The world smiled.
Dismantle
Great equalizer,
Critically wound the
Promise of opportunity,
Regardless of station.
Under the guise of
Reform, merit, competition,
Eviscerate it,
Weaken its foundation
Piece by piece.
Democracy deflated,
Increasing divide,
Advantaged versus unprivileged.
Self-perpetuating inferno,
Burgeoning underclass.
