Please adhere
To the plan,
Without thinking
Or questioning,
Just do what we
Tell you to do
And keep your
Thoughts to yourself.
At all times,
Think only about
What we tell you
To think,
All free-thinkers
Shall be re-educated
In one of our
Facilities.
As always,
Continue watching
The screen for
Directives.
As soon as he realizes
That he will have to
Provide health care for
His underpaid employees,
He breaks into a remarkable
Fit of rage, screaming that
He’ll be unable to absorb
The costs and that he’ll
Have to raise prices.
Lost in all the bluster are
The human beings that toil
For him, night and day,
And can’t make ends meet,
Especially since he
Reduced everyone’s hours
To skirt the new laws,
While he relaxes
In his opulent mansion.
Waiting for something
That might never happen.
Standing by
Just in case.
The days pass,
Nothing changes.
Optimism becomes
Hopelessness.
Another opportunity
To learn and grow.
Unfeeling,
Although they writhe
And contort at his feet,
Gasping for air,
Struggling to live
Despite circumstance.
He never did care for
Much more than himself,
His history etched into
Him, inky darkness
Unlit by empathy or
The simplest kindness.
All the members of a
Small group are given an
Equal amount of money and
Asked to either give part of
It to their fellow members
Or keep it for themselves.
Most participants choose to
Give some of their money away,
The well-being of the group
Being more important than
The accumulation of wealth
For personal gain.
In every group, there are one
Or two individuals who do not see
Beyond their own needs and
Cavalierly decide to keep
What they have while continuing
To receive money from the others.
He tells me to wait
Fifteen minutes and
Everything will be
Taken care of,
I thank him for his help,
Feeling some relief.
When I follow up,
I find out he did nothing.
Sitting on his high perch,
Absolutely enamored with
The sound of his own voice,
Pontificating endlessly,
Tediously, greatly relishing
His contemptuous, haughty,
Condescending pronouncements.
An intoxicated appointee,
He savors every delectable
Morsel of sovereignty and
Dominance he wields,
Making decisions far too
Important for a person of his
Vanity and numbness,
A sweep of the hand,
A dead, arrogant smile.
Herded into an austere room,
They are told they have
To perform a solemn duty
On behalf of their country.
No room for discussion,
Just non-negotiable commands
To do as they’re told
By supposed superiors.
They are expeditiously
Separated into groups:
Those who will follow,
And the dissenters.
Against his will,
He is forced to do
Something he doesn’t
Agree with, the machine
Being much more forceful
Than his lonely dissent.
A benevolent experiment
Contaminated by the same
Petty concerns that plague
Countless institutions,
Well-meaning at first,
Later horribly flawed.
