A pasted-on smile
Obscures dark bile
Built up over generations of
Harshness and abuse.
Now, unable to feel,
She expends all her energy
Repeating the cycle,
Destroying people to amass things,
Hoarding as much stuff
As possible to compensate
For what’s missing although it
Doesn’t heal her pain.
She doesn’t know what else to do and
Refuses to change course,
Just like her forebears.
He’s fine with government programs
That help him and the people
He’s comfortable with,
Which excludes those who
Don’t look, think, and experience
The world like him.
Talking to friends,
He complains that those people
Have had a free ride for too long.
What’s he ever gotten,
Except for everything?
Shut up or I’ll
Give you something
To cry about.
That boy needs
Some sense
Knocked into him.
Innocence ripped
From terrified
Heart.
Eclipsing of
Kindness by
Brutality.
Scorched landscape
Devoid of
Hope.
She was raised to be a
Good girl, follow the rules,
Respect authority, answer
When called, smile when
Addressed, defer when
Pressed, put others first.
She met a familiar young
Man who swept her
Off her feet, told her
What to do and when to do it.
Her conditioning complete,
A life of smiling subservience.
At the pinnacle of success,
No other position higher in his field,
An unparalleled opportunity to
Make a huge difference
In the lives of people
Who are enduring the same
Slights he experienced,
He looks the other way,
Choosing instead to
Join his oppressors,
Making the lives of millions
Much more difficult,
Forgetting the chance he was given.
They hang out in groups
Because that’s all they know,
Parading around,
Talking endlessly but saying nothing,
One-upping each other,
Rough-housing,
Jostling for position,
Establishing dominance,
An all-too-common gathering of
Shameless insecurity,
Best of all,
There’s always someone there
To enable their behavior.
Unplanned encounter
In a store parking lot,
She averts her eyes,
Changes direction,
Intentional shunning,
Everything she heard
Recited in her family
Reverberating inside,
Programming complete,
Total indoctrination,
Unquestioning allegiance,
Accepting lies as truth,
Poisoned.
Trying to find a solution.
It’s not there,
No matter how hard she looks.
Not yet, at least.
She wonders how much longer
It will take, or whether
Fate conspires against her.
With no immediate answer,
She keeps going,
As she always has.
