I can’t remember the exact moment
I gave up my self. Perhaps it was the
Day that importance and worth became
Quaint terms of impossibility.
The culmination of many years of
Foregoing aspiration. A sapling gnarled by
Withering storms, exposed, awaiting
The next calamity to be endured.
A gradual lowering of expectations,
Unperceived and silent evisceration,
Rescue me from the burden of feeling,
Ask me to be someone else.
He lets me into
His existence,
But it’s not a place
I really want to visit,
Rather unsettling,
Full of jagged edges,
Hard, untended
Spots of insecurity
Covered with makeshift
Patches of ego.
I politely look around
Hoping to find something
Comforting, healthy.
I leave shortly
Thereafter with
No plans to return.
Speaking to a group of
Factory workers, he
Conveniently fails to
Mention that he is
A proud union buster,
The kind of person who
Shafts the little guy
To favor corporations
Dedicated to paying their
Employees as little as
They possibly can
Get away with
Before anyone notices that
All the money is going
In one direction.
He came upon grace,
An unfamiliar state
Callously dismissed as
Unbecoming.
He came upon hope and
Methodically
Wrung its neck with
Unfounded beliefs and
Fearful suppositions.
He came upon love and
Violently banished it
Away from himself,
And others.
A creeping foreboding insinuating
Itself into an otherwise cloudless day.
A serene outdoor picnic where the only
Visitor is a breeze and a mountain lion.
Take a moment to resolve whether
You’ll sit still or run, then decide to
Flee and find that your legs are like
Noodles in a delicious Asian soup
You enjoyed one time in a small
Place in a distant destination.
An intimate lunch in a hidden corner of a
Bustling city. Gazing into each other’s eyes
Moments before the check came and
Overburdened your credit card causing
Waves of shame, a loss of face.
He looks out the window
At the street where his
Children played happily,
Where every house was
Tended to, where neighbors
Said hi to each other and
Talked about work down at
The plant, their dreams
For their kids, their
Upcoming family vacation,
Their steps up the ladder.
All gone now, replaced by
Derelict shells the
City will eventually
Tear down, lifeless
Shells where once regular
People enjoyed life
And planned their futures.
A young man offered his being,
His vulnerable, exposed essence,
Pure, unadulterated by adult
Adulterators adulating duty.
His gift was considered for
Less than a millisecond and
Replaced by stringent rules of
Decorum and convoluted honor,
An imposition of boot on face.
Succumb to the tide as it draws
You beneath the waves.
An ugly smile announces
The bully, who indifferently
Smears his unformed,
Unexamined nastiness
On every surface,
Forcing the worthwhile to their
Knees, savaging the
Nuanced and vulnerable,
A loud surge of cacophonous
Stupidity wrapped in a
Business suit, playing
The victim when reason
Exposes his hypocrisy.
Please don’t tell me
How much you
Care about others or
Give to charity
Or what a big heart
You have when
You brazenly and
Unapologetically support
Policies that destroy
The poor and vulnerable
Who need help
Rather than scorn.
