Sometime in the early 2000s
Corporations get the memo
That they can do whatever
They want: reduce the size of
Products and charge more for them,
Make everything cheaper so
It will break sooner,
Provide less and worse service,
Consolidate into monopolies,
Price exorbitantly,
Cater only to shareholders,
And nobody will do anything
About it, a methodical bleeding of
A shrinking middle class and
Growing swathes of
Human beings in poverty,
A new accepted cruelty.
Peace requires a
Bit more thought
Than blindly lashing out,
Stepping on another
Human being for personal gain,
Craving some fleeting sense of
Safety, superiority.
Inside each of us is
The wherewithal to
Heal ourselves so we may
Love others.
For much of her life,
She believed that
Her worth came from
What other people
Thought of her,
Constantly looking
For approval from
Sources ill-equipped
To provide it,
Hating herself when
The right words
Didn’t come.
He’ll never
Say it out loud,
At least not to
Anyone but his closest
Friends and family
Members who agree
With him, but he
Misses the days when
People knew their place,
And he was at the
Top of the heap,
And nobody
Questioned it.
Once-distant sounds
Intensely reverberating,
Return of suspicion,
Hatred, contempt for the
Unfamiliar, lack of
Tolerance and curiosity,
Marching in lockstep to
The exhortations of
Another furious ringleader,
Vicious howls of recognition,
Slide into darkness.
I saw a person today wearing
A T-shirt defending the
Civil Rights Movement and
I was deeply grateful that
There are people of conscience
Who are willing to stand in
Solidarity against hatred
And bigotry. History has
Shown us far too often
What happens when people
Don’t speak up.
When it became apparent
That things would not
Be as I wished, I still
Held out hope,
Surely there is another way,
One that won’t hurt
So much, that won’t
Make me hate myself.
Many years later,
Everything remains
The same, externally,
Though inside I still
Harbor some slight
Optimism that things
Will change though
They likely won’t.
Once a year,
They call in some
Highly-recommended,
One-dimensional expert
To run a few inane activities
Focusing on the superficial
To the exclusion of
Anything of substance,
Momentarily making them
Feel like they’ve done
Something to address
The pathologies that
Riddle their organization and
Will never deal with meaningfully.
They congratulate themselves for
Being forward-thinking.
They come out
In droves,
Reasserting their
Flagging supremacy,
Sending a message
That they’re not
Done yet with this
Unearned position
Seized by force.
History will reveal
Who they really are.
