Lapse
Reducing human beings
To categories and fates,
A lamentable history of
Imposed disparity,
Lapse of humanity.
Bewildered
All they know is
Selfishness,
Unable to understand or
Care in any way about
The plight of others,
A hollow existence
Reeking of fear and pain,
Bewildered, suspicious, alone.
Upward
Her income stagnant
For so many years,
Cost of everything
Increasing.
Productivity is up,
Gloat the people
At the top,
Their income rising.
All the money
Flowing upward,
Everyone else
Spiralling downward.
A World Transformed
When he heard the words,
He wondered what else he
Could possibly do
To make this type of
Treatment end.
He had worked impossibly
Hard to rewrite his biography,
Surmounting poverty and disadvantage
To become a respected
Professional.
He yearned for a day when he
Could walk down the street
Without being eyed with suspicion,
Shunned because of
His physical appearance.
One day his grandchildren
Would wake up
In a world transformed
By empathy and
Love.
Everlasting Dream
Paul sat with his grandson
Looking through a faded
Album filled with memories of
A time when people believed
That the world could be different,
Where human beings collaborated
To build a fair society,
A dream that never dimmed,
No matter how loudly the
Voices of conventionality and
Oppression tried to impose
Their unwavering malaise.
Though many years had passed,
He still felt the call of
Peace, love, hope, compassion,
The everlasting dream.
Doctor
On a flight from
Any town to another town
In any part of the nation,
A man falls ill and a
Doctor of a certain color
And gender offers her help
Only to be condescendingly
Rebuffed by a flight attendant
Of a different color who
Believes only certain people
Are doctors.
Trajectory
Their lives are
Based on beliefs
Rather than facts,
Following a trajectory
Of supposition,
Superstition,
Every move dictated by
Some unseen force,
Contrived reality,
Detrimental,
Unproven, unhealthy.
Heinous Affront
Lilly is the one who
Took away her son,
Stole her most
Cherished treasure,
Left her sobbing alone
Without her beloved
First-born, her best
Friend and confidant,
The one she poured
All her dreams and
Unfulfilled aspirations into.
To make up for this
Heinous affront,
Olivia proffers strategic
Gifts to the children,
A premeditated maneuver to
Regain control.
Identification
Margaret hadn’t voted
Her entire life but felt
That this election would
Affect the course of the
Country for many years to
Come. She registered and
Looked forward to having
Her voice be heard;
She even encouraged some of
Her neighbors to join her.
She got a ride to the polls
On election day, where she
Was told that she didn’t
Have the proper identification.