I’m not sure I fully
Understand why certain
People feel compelled to
Force their beliefs on others,
Insisting their way of
Looking at the world is best,
Censoring other perspectives,
Imposing curfew on divergent
Ideas that don’t fit
Their narrow outlook,
Forcing human beings into
Confining boxes,
Deeply uncomfortable with
Ambiguity and uncertainty,
Condemning anyone who isn’t
Like them, immersed in
Fear and judgment,
Even though it doesn’t
Have to be this way.
They fought each other
For years, and when they
Finally decided to put an
End to the ordeal they’d
Both been living, they
Battled each other over
Every insignificant detail,
Each trying to prove that
He or she was right, a
Mania that had destroyed
Whatever they once had
And would persist
Indefinitely.
If you look underneath
The false premises and
Sleazy justifications,
You’ll find the conventional
Obsession with putting
Women down because it
Makes small men feel more
Important, far easier
To step on someone than to
Share the world with them or
Go against your father who
Taught you insecurity and the
Fear of being exposed.
Original injury
Dictating everything
They do.
Never a moment of
Self-reflection,
Contemplation.
Living
Moment to moment,
Unaware.
Anger, fear, sadness,
Triumvirate of
Misery.
Huddled together
Hoping the next one
Doesn’t hit them,
Knowing that it will
Slaughter someone.
Always at the mercy of
Cold-blooded rulers
Who couldn’t care less
About what happens
To people like them.
Stepping off the bus,
Lily walks home
Past rusting cars,
Graffiti-covered walls,
Shuttered storefronts,
Garbage-strewn gutters,
To the doorway of
Her bleak building
Where there’s never a
Moment’s peace in the
Small apartment
She lives in.
Opening a box of
Old things, he’s
Transported back to
A time when things
Seemed brighter, when
The whole world was
Wide open, exciting,
Nothing insurmountable.
He puts everything
Back in, closing off
That part of him again.
A group of people decide
That it’s important to
Care for one another, that
Outrageous imbalances in wealth
Only lead to suffering,
That their society thrives
When every person does well,
That the most vulnerable
Among them deserve to
Experience lives of dignity,
That peace is real,
The common good the norm.
Some will admit it or
Reveal themselves through
Coarse comments or actions,
Others keep it under wraps
Unless they’re around
Their peers, in which case
It’s a free for all of
Jovial denigration.
Underneath it all
The thing they’ve been told
Their entire lives,
That they’re the rightful
Heirs to the throne.
