She comes to
His home
Once a week.
She cleans the
Toilets, washes
His clothes.
She vacuums and
Dusts everywhere,
Mops the floors.
Her ever-present
Smile is a
Welcome sight.
He interacts with
Her in a
Polite way.
Below the surface,
He disdains
Her kind.
I don’t mind
Giving to others,
I’m a charitable person,
Taught well by my parents.
I know the difference between
Right and wrong,
I was brought up to
Help others
Less fortunate.
I’m always there for
My friends, family, colleagues,
But not them.
Obsessively feeding
Stockholders
At the expense of
Consumers, people,
Decency, everything.
Promise ever-increasing returns,
Keep earnings artificially high,
Nothing else matters.
Metastasizing abnormal growth,
Never content with enough.
A world gutted by a
Pathological need for
Wealth and status,
Nourishing the few
Who can buy shares and
Their pushers.
Illusions vanish,
Leeches abscond.
Sitting in his favorite chair,
He motions to his wife to
Fetch him another beer and
Stares blankly into the
Television where a smug
Talking head reinforces all
His worst impulses and
Lends credence to the appalling
Thoughts clogging his every
Waking moment, physically
Animate, emotionally dead.
Under the guise of
Revering personal freedom,
A huckster carny
Palavers to dismantle
Vital institutions that
Build civilized societies
A pernicious warrior declaring
That government should be
Severely curbed, for no other
Reason than an appalling
Absence of caring, compassion,
Sense of community.
Affecting an appearance of
Piety while harboring
Vitriolic hatred toward
People who aren’t like him.
Many have paid the price
For his unchecked
Emotional instability and
Tormented tirades.
They couldn’t say anything
For fear of being destroyed
By a roaring avalanche
Of twitching authoritarianism.
With single-minded
Zeal, they’re off
To help those less
Fortunate live better lives.
A project to bring
Relief to the remote
Village in exchange for
Eternal fealty to dogma.
A perpetuation of the
Same kind of hierarchy
That keeps them down
In the first place.
Domination by any
Word is still the
Same wretched exercise,
Selfish, self-serving.
Bright, shiny,
Absolutely beautiful.
Bursting with excitement,
Potential, optimism, intelligence.
A whole life of
Unlimited possibilities awaits,
Places to go, people to meet,
Dreams to be made real.
Not so fast,
We do things a certain way
In this family,
In this town.
Clamp on rusty shackles of
Societal expectations, constrictions.
Know your place,
Be a good girl.
She talks about
An entire system
Set up to benefit
One group of people
Who never have to reflect
On why things are this way or
What it does to those
Not favored.
The people she’s talking with
All react with
Defensive outrage,
Proving her point,
Unaware of their privilege.
