After many years,
The tempest passes.
A warm glow fills the sky,
Verdant meadows glistening.
The chirping of birds,
Flowers swaying in the breeze.
So much time spent in hiding,
Time to go out and enjoy.
Breathing in deeply,
Everything better.
He makes a mistake and,
Instead of admitting it,
Blames it on someone else,
Never taking responsibility
For any of his many shortcomings,
Preferring instead to go on and on
About how great and infallible he is.
Everyone around him sees through
His front, it’s just not worth
Calling it to his attention,
He’ll never get it.
Unable to see
The consequences,
Unwilling to do
Anything to lessen
The damage.
He looks the other way,
Even when faced
With shocking evidence
Of the anguish caused
By his actions,
Desperately
Avoiding introspection.
He’ll never know
What causes it all,
He’ll never try
To figure it out,
Everyone else will
Just have to suffer.
Smiling as he votes
For reprobates who will
Butcher the vulnerable,
He feels like his
Cherished slice of the
Exclusionary pie
Remains his to enjoy.
Who do these people
Think they are,
Trying to get their filthy hands
On my stuff?
I’ve worked hard for
What I’ve got.
They need to go back
To where they came from.
A sudden hush
Interrupts the mirth,
Uncomfortable downward stares.
Beaming in his chair,
He revels in his obnoxiousness,
A well-honed ability
To annoy everyone around him.
That’ll show them,
He thinks to himself,
Every day a battle against
Nice people
Who care about the world
And each other.
All it takes is
One simple thing to
Incur her wrath—
The temerity to
Not follow her commands.
Mortally wounded,
She viciously lashes out at
Her perceived enemy.
It’s been this way for
As long as she can remember,
And she does nothing
To change it,
That would require insight,
Vulnerability.
Vastly overestimating
How much his success is
Due to ability or industry
Versus chance,
A blip in time made
Possible by circumstance.
Rhapsodizing at length about
Nothing, everything,
The sound of his voice
Reassuring him that
His pronouncements carry
Some kind of special weight,
That he’s smarter than the rest,
Dismissing anything
That threatens his
Engorged ego.
Shut up or I’ll
Give you something
To cry about.
That boy needs
Some sense
Knocked into him.
Innocence ripped
From terrified
Heart.
Eclipsing of
Kindness by
Brutality.
Scorched landscape
Devoid of
Hope.
They hang out in groups
Because that’s all they know,
Parading around,
Talking endlessly but saying nothing,
One-upping each other,
Rough-housing,
Jostling for position,
Establishing dominance,
An all-too-common gathering of
Shameless insecurity,
Best of all,
There’s always someone there
To enable their behavior.
