When given a choice, she embraced
The path that made her blood boil.
Lashing out instinctively, a fight for
Self-preservation in every exchange.
Days spent making enemies,
Cultivating discomfort.
Evenings spent pursuing an
Online connection, anybody.
Unable to escape the din,
Unwilling to turn it down.
Same hierarchy imposed,
People standing
In rancid cliques pretending
To feel comfortable
In their own skins.
Reliving past triumphs
And the rush that came
From disparaging others,
Walking by with a nose
In the air, punch on the arm.
Years later,
Glory days still fondly
Revisited by husks
Too broken to rewire
The obsolete mess.
One step after another,
They walk together,
At least they used to.
Things are rather
Different now, but
Neither knows what to say.
Words without import,
One looks at the sky and
Says it might rain.
They toil to change
The school curriculum
To reflect a self-righteous
Thirteenth-century view
Of the world.
A wonderful realm where
Education succumbs to
Superstition, where
Strict hierarchy imposes
Its arbitrary whims.
A king on top,
Everyone else in tatters,
Barely subsisting,
Summarily subjugated by
Master manipulators.
I can’t convince you to be happy, to
Let go of the pain, to treat people well,
Like yourself, heal the hurts,
Overcome the fear.
I can’t implore you to dismiss many
Years of habit. Wavering foundation
Settling for crumbs, ease elusive,
A rippleless lake startled.
I can’t sway your mind to follow a
Sunny path lined with wildflowers,
Brimming with hope, the last cold
Gusts of winter warmed.
He scurries around
His disordered lair,
Planning his next
Move, the one that
Will undoubtedly put
Him in the position of
Most supremacy over
The largest number of
People. Finally,
Complete dominion.
On the outside, people
Say what they always
Have said about him.
How can you learn anything
Without the insight that
Something needs to be learned.
No reason to try anything new
When you have the courage of
Your convictions and assumptions
Propping you up. Why bother
Expanding your mind when things
Are already arranged in neat,
Undisturbed rows covered in the
Dust of disuse. What a mess it
Would be to even begin airing this
Place out. Why even start.
Unwittingly,
Irrevocably
Steeped in a
Culture that rewards
Superficial displays of
Bluster masking
Crippling insecurity.
A child flexing his muscle,
Immersed in the language and
Lifestyle of violence,
As if nothing;
Perpetuating misery,
Dysfunction.
They robbed him of
His trust, took away
His safety, denied
Him kindness, replaced
It all with harsh words
And threats of pain.
He likes to pretend
That everything’s okay
But he thinks and behaves
In ways that mirror
What he went through,
Perpetuating the cycle.
It’s not that he
Wants to be this way,
It’s that he believes he has
No other choice,
To interrupt it would mean
Reliving the horror.
