contemporary poetry

Blocking

Gradual progression
Toward greater humanity,
Compassion, kept from
Developing by a fiercely
Determined subset who
Resist any change,
All change,
In any form,
For any reason,
In perpetuity.
Blocking every attempt
To make the world a
Softer place that
Takes care of
Its inhabitants.
Chanting twisted slogans,
Dog eat dog,
Survival of the fittest,
Self-sufficiency,
Rallying cries of
The self-interested.

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Redirect

There are times when my mind goes
Blank.
There are times when my heart goes
Numb.
There are times when my feelings
Hurt.
There are times when my anxieties
Crush.
There are times when my insecurities
Debilitate.
There are times when I consciously
Redirect.

After the Heart Attack

After the
Heart attack,
He gained an amazing
Lack of revelation.

Instead of celebrating
Good fortune and the
Gift of life, he
Doubled down on rancor.

Much to be done,
More wealth to amass
More people to
Gleefully crush.

He Was Asked

And so he was asked if he
Would take a look at himself and
He graciously declined as he always
Had and kept living his life as he
Knew how. A time came when his
Mettle was tested by circumstance and
He was again encouraged to examine
Himself and he blithely put it off another
Day until it was time to pass and he
Lay alone wishing he understood
Who he was all these years and why
He hadn’t tried to find out.

Preserving

Nothing is more important
To him than preserving
His laughable facade of
Strength and authority,
Even the loss of
Important relationships is
Not a deterrent to
Maintaining a lie.
He dies weak and alone,
The way he lived.

Destructor

In comes the destructor with
Righteous carriage and
Assured gait, a gift not
Beholden to human niceties or
Cumbersome compassion.

Methodically eviscerates all
He dislikes with swift saber
Strokes of skepticism and
Tantrum. He knows the way and
Will get it one way or another.

Rationality

Waiting on heightened alert,
Ready to spring into action in a
Millisecond against foes real and
Imagined.

Shadows appear where none exist,
Certainty eclipses rationality,
Bravado masks fear unattended and
Believed.

Thrive

Things being done
As they always have been,
Unchecked exploitation
Conceived when there were
No other considerations,
Decimating everything
For profit.

Growing movement,
Compassionate, resolute,
Rises from the ruins,
Understands we don’t have
To kill each other,
That we’re intelligent
Enough to thrive together.

Battle

It was clear from the very beginning
That something wasn’t quite right;
An insincere smile, a stare that
Lasted uncomfortably long.

Inevitably, inexorably, the tone changes.
Talons emerge, words more savage.
Spitting, hissing, leering, the battle for
Dominance commences.

Overconfidence brings its sister
Insecurity to the party. Unable to
Subdue the unease, they proceed to
Spread their discord.