They set up a system
That limits certain people’s
Ability to succeed and
Then insult them by
Calling them lazy moochers.
They don’t understand
That myriad hard-working
People don’t succeed
Because they live in a
Country that won’t let them.
All they’ve known is
Privilege and success,
All they do is try to
Make sure nobody
Takes it from them.
They need someone to
Give them easy answers to
Difficult questions,
Tell them what to do and
When to do it,
Condone comfort in
Brutality and selfishness,
Assure them that it’s okay
To destroy the vulnerable,
Assert supremacy so they may
Feel a moment of ease
In their fear-addled minds
While attempting to revive a
False past that never existed.
I never realized I
Was that way until
It happened, life being
What it is, introducing
Its sundry twists and turns,
But I became aware of
Who I used to be, as well as
Who I am today, a person
I used to tacitly loathe
Or one I can look at in
The mirror without wincing.
The saddest of betrayals,
The one who was supposed to
Love her, be there for her
When she was struggling,
Was gone, not in person but
In spirit. He had checked
Out a long time ago, if he
Had ever been there at all.
Trying to keep it
All together,
Every minute a struggle
To drown out
Screams from the past,
Insistent reminders of
Unfathomable horror.
A picture of an imaginary being
Sits on the coffee table,
Providing only
Some superficial
Comfort and solace
Through the constant turbulence.
For years and years
I averted my eyes,
Pretended it wasn’t happening,
Wished against all reason
That it would somehow change.
I was desperately deluded,
What I had felt so vividly
Proved itself lasting,
And remains so
To this very day.
They see her as
An existential threat,
This teenage girl
Whose only trespass is
Advocating for education
For all girls.
So terrified are they that
Women might have the ability
To think for themselves,
To assume positions of power,
That they do the only
Thing they know how to.
She survives the point-blank
Shot to her head, a heinous
Act of cowardice by
Gutless followers who fail to
Understand the resilience
Of the human spirit.
He has a deep, unwavering
Belief that the world is
A scary place where we all
Have to compete against
Each other, a notion
Stemming from his urgent
Need for power, that someone
Has to win, that there is
Always a group that is
Dominant over another.
When confronted with
Complex, frightening,
Existential questions,
His aggression surfaces,
Ambiguity being an undesirable
Interloper suggesting that
Something has to change
Though the old ways of
Doing things are so
Much more comforting.
Upon assuming a position
Of influence, he toils
Frantically to impose
Severe rules to control
His perceived subjects,
Demanding strict adherence to
His supreme authority,
Beginning his march toward
Obedience and conformity,
Restoring the status quo.
Extreme myopia,
A near-pathological
Inability to see,
Let alone understand,
Anyone else’s plight,
A dark tunnel excavated
From his own pain.
Lacking self-awareness,
He assumes that
Everyone else’s struggle
Is exactly like his,
That the same variables
Line up exactly
The same way.
Left in his wake,
A swath of agony,
Contorted beings
Crying out for help
That will never come,
The casualties of
Detached indifference.
