Each of us can
Love more than hate,
Help one another more
Than compete, understand
Rather than become enraged,
Yet we ignore these gifts.
The only creature that
Can shape its own mind
Repeatedly dooms itself
To self-annihilation by
Not healing its
Unresolved hurts.
It remains not just a dream
To build a world where
We care for one another,
Celebrate our commonalities,
Exercise our innate ability to
Live in harmony.
Too many papers
Festooning my cluttered desk,
Hanging off the edge.
I remember her happy,
Writing glowing, vivid prose.
As long as everyone looked
Like them, believed and
Behaved similarly,
They were happy.
It was only when
People they were not
Familiar with started
Appearing in the neighborhood
That rumors started to spread
About how the new arrivals
Were going to take over and
Destroy their way of life.
Each day her dollar
Buys less and less,
Each expected and
Unexpected expense
Gobbling up a larger
Slice of an already
Meager pie, leaving
Nothing but debt,
Deprivation.
A beautiful tree
Resplendent in clear sunshine,
Verdant limbs swaying—
I adjust my new t-shirt,
Hoping she’s looking over.
They’ve lost everything
And been told it’s the fault of
People who are not like them.
They revolt in anger,
Lashing out at a perceived
Enemy that doesn’t exist,
Ignoring the malefactors
In their midst, trying
To hurt someone back for
What they’ve endured,
Supporting opportunists
Promising to alleviate
Their chronic pain,
Misinterpreting who really
Did this to them.
Thinking and behaving
Courageously, the
Purview of the few who
Understand that the
World is a better place
When we all help
Each other flourish.
So many things to
Take care of,
Seemingly all at once,
Barely able to cope
With even one task,
Let alone many,
A haze of anxiety.
He remembers a time
When it all seemed easier,
Though, upon reflection,
It might have never been.
He still remembers the
Dark outline above him,
His mother by the door,
As he was mercilessly
Lashed for some minor,
Random infraction.
Barely making it through
High school, too many
Anxieties roiling through
His mind, he vows to
Do something so others don’t
Have to go through what he did.
He follows a career path that
Puts him in a position of
Authority and power; he feels
It course through his system,
The ability to control others,
Punish with impunity.
