Put people down
Who have no power,
Afflict the afflicted,
Celebrate power differentials,
Relish submission,
Build forbidding structures
That keep people deferential,
Make fun of them
When they try to speak
Out against oppression,
Scream bigotry when people
Call you on yours,
Perpetuate the system,
Keep what’s yours.
An ostentatious display of
Diplomas, certificates, awards,
Photos with prominent people,
Carefully framed for
Maximum prominence,
Clutter every wall,
Screaming for attention,
Recognition, validation,
An unwitting plea from an
Outwardly confident professional
Perpetually endeavoring to prove
How powerful she is.
Diseased ethos
Mired in past pain,
Searing hurt,
Unresolved damage.
Each day a
New opportunity to
Inflict torment
On others.
Rancid, rotting, wretched,
Averse to the light,
Unexamined life,
Misery manifest.
Flaunting the
Fanciest degrees
From exclusive
Institutions of
Higher learning,
They congregate in
Self-serving groups,
Roaring about their
Accomplishments,
Grooming one another,
Completely lacking
Vision or depth,
A herd of ordinary
Matching dolts.
Given everything
On a silver platter coated in platinum
With no expectation of repayment,
Every whim and caprice indulged,
A cocky, belligerent simpleton
Throwing his privilege around,
Demanding attention
Where none is due,
Overstating his ability,
Pretending to be extraordinary,
All swagger and no substance.
A warehouse, no windows,
Community center,
Local tire shop,
Family restaurant,
Palm trees, pavement,
Cars rushing past on
Four lanes, a mother tries
To cross the street with
An infant in a stroller,
Walls hiding structures,
Sun glaring off hard surfaces,
A few houses that used to
Be in good shape,
Now subdivided into apartments,
Or single rooms, bars on windows,
A block from the highway,
Many more from the mansions.
Firing off a lie-filled attack
Via social media to
Protect the crooked
Benefactors who put her in office,
Defending abuses that
No one should justify
In the interest of giving
More power to the very entities
Destroying human beings.
Detention, incarceration, concentration,
Mean nothing to her,
Only perpetuating the deception
That keeps money flowing
To her and her cronies.
Alone in a room,
Wondering if anything
He’s done has any value,
Whether his decisions
Have all been mistakes,
Despondency his companion,
Inner comfort unreachable,
Questioning everything that
Has transpired in his life,
A sense that nothing will
Ever go right because it
Never has before,
He gets up and leaves.
Instead of healing,
They choose to
Inhabit the nether regions
Where outwardly normal monsters
Work out their darkest pathologies
On innocent bystanders,
Sociopaths preying on
The vulnerable without even
A hint of remorse,
Festering, rancid inner wounds
Oozing fetid pus,
An avoidable cataclysm.
