Hollow
Constant conflict
Without respite,
Continuous struggle
For dominance
Obliterating any
Semblance of
Functionality.
Crushing competition,
Someone always
Has to win,
Someone loses,
Tumultuous,
Hollow
Existence.
What Do You Do?
He interrupts his pronouncements
About her career to
Ask his thirty-five-year-old daughter,
With a puzzled look on his face,
“What do you do?”
It’s never been very important
In this family to think beyond
One’s own ego and
Care about what
Anyone else is doing,
That would require
Listening to someone else’s story,
Letting go for just a moment of
The need to control everything,
Command the stage.
Services
Their public services were
Just fine when their
Elected officials cared
About people, then came
A different group that
Assured everyone the
Private sector could and
Would do a better job.
Over time, it became clear
That businesses were indeed
Proficient at making profits
For themselves but
Not so great at providing
The services that people
Had grown accustomed to and
That now cost more and were
Less reliable due to the
Omnipotent bottom line.
Giant
Disrupt
Divide
Disorganize
Disorient
Much weaker
Alone
Against
A giant
Confuse
Disarrange
Shuffle
Obliterate
Impassive
While proclaiming with
An impassive face that
He wants to help as
Many people as possible
And live a life of service,
He does the exact opposite,
Hurting millions,
Establishing an order
Where one point of view
Supersedes all others,
Where truth doesn’t matter,
Kindness perishes, and
Only rot thrives.
Redistribution
One guy fumes at
Giving his hard-earned money
To people who don’t deserve it,
Freeloaders leeching off the system.
He calls it an unfair
Downward redistribution of wealth,
Rewarding slackers instead of
Individuals who work hard.
Another guy considers
That you can’t create an equitable
Society out of people who are
Only looking out for themselves,
Where wealth is
Exclusively channeled upward
Instead of apportioned
For the common good.
Demeanor
No light emanating
From his eyes,
A rigid demeanor
Developed in childhood
When the glow was
Beat out of him by
People proclaiming virtue
While practicing terror.
Devoid of love,
He coldly leads his adherents
Into the abyss.
Contrived Existence
Systematic destruction
Of self-worth replaced
With rigid decrees for
How to live life,
Zealously, nervously
Monitored, lest there be
Any defections, the
Preservation of the sham
The only goal, an insecure
Stack of lies desperately
Trying to justify its
Contrived existence.
Diet
Their kids grow up
To do horrible things
Because that’s what
They saw the most important
People in their lives do,
There was never going to be
Another outcome,
Neuroses easily transmitted
Through a strict diet
Of authoritarianism
Passed off as love.