A slimy, diseased presence
Insinuating itself into daily
Discourse, spreading spores
Infecting the conversation,
Blurring the lines of veracity.
Small, petty, diseased creatures
Bloviating about the latest
Manufactured outrage,
Anti-truth serum pulsating
Through collapsing veins.
Feeding more coal into the fire,
Stoking the flames of discord,
Prurient power fantasies,
Conscience gagged, extinguished,
Kneeling at the altar of money.
She comes to
His home
Once a week.
She cleans the
Toilets, washes
His clothes.
She vacuums and
Dusts everywhere,
Mops the floors.
Her ever-present
Smile is a
Welcome sight.
He interacts with
Her in a
Polite way.
Below the surface,
He disdains
Her kind.
It’s so easy to fix
All these problems,
All you need to do
Is transform the ethos
Of people who would
Rather hoard everything
For themselves and
Introduce the idea that
It’s okay not to have
All the money or power
Or have to dominate
Everyone and everything,
That one can live a
Life of deep beauty and
Dignity with just the
Company of one’s own
Healthy conscience.
I don’t mind
Giving to others,
I’m a charitable person,
Taught well by my parents.
I know the difference between
Right and wrong,
I was brought up to
Help others
Less fortunate.
I’m always there for
My friends, family, colleagues,
But not them.
Mendacious malefactors
Gleefully ditching integrity
For fistfuls of cash
Diverted to secret accounts.
Terrifying the rubes,
Making them look the other way
While separating them
From what little they
Still clutch.
Venal peddlers of untruth
Wrapped in mantles of righteousness
Threatening to blow up
The whole thing if they
Don’t get their way.
Predictably oppressive regime
Bent on absolute power and control,
Simpletons demolishing honor
In the name of personal gain.
Malevolent farce masking
Complete incompetence,
Merciless extortion.
Rough,
Unyielding,
Insecure.
Something’s wrong,
Just below the surface,
Turmoil.
Outwardly rugged,
Inwardly mangled,
Ruptured.
Only violence here,
Ruthlessness,
Utter despair.
Obsessively feeding
Stockholders
At the expense of
Consumers, people,
Decency, everything.
Promise ever-increasing returns,
Keep earnings artificially high,
Nothing else matters.
Metastasizing abnormal growth,
Never content with enough.
A world gutted by a
Pathological need for
Wealth and status,
Nourishing the few
Who can buy shares and
Their pushers.
Illusions vanish,
Leeches abscond.
Sitting in his favorite chair,
He motions to his wife to
Fetch him another beer and
Stares blankly into the
Television where a smug
Talking head reinforces all
His worst impulses and
Lends credence to the appalling
Thoughts clogging his every
Waking moment, physically
Animate, emotionally dead.
In a ramshackle trailer park,
A family of five inhabits
An ancient Airstream
On a cold, rainy day,
Wearing winter coats indoors
To keep barely warm, a tiny
Space heater rattles hopelessly.
Rent is due in a couple
Of days and Mark is out
Looking for any kind of
Employment, Susan has to
Stay home with the kids,
Child care costing more than
Any minimum wage job affords.
The holidays are near and
There’s no money for gifts,
Or anything to eat,
A trip to the local food pantry
An embarrassing new reality,
They reminisce about their vacation
Last year before the layoffs.
