Each one more
Ordinary than
The other.
Competing for
Space, attention,
Recognition.
Hyperbole,
Embellishment,
Attempting to
Hide
Gaping holes.
It opens its wary green eye,
Suffusing the environs with a
Rotten, infirm cast of animosity and
Torment. It insecurely demands
Detail and explanation, stopping at
Nothing in its quest for answers.
Its vexation is a permanent parasite,
Leaching life out of all it penetrates.
It seems like just
The other day
You and I
Talked about things
Vast and light,
Playing off each other
As only those
Who are close do.
He could get very
Angry about the situation
But chooses instead to
Wish the object of
His contempt well and
Move on with his life.
Sometimes, oftentimes,
It’s just better to
Let things go and
Heal the world in
Some small way.
He has to win
All the time,
Or everyone loses.
Tantrum after
Horrible tantrum
Erupting.
An ugly spectacle
Writhing on
The floor.
A change blows in, barely perceived
Except to those who welcome these
Things. A murmur, a hint, a pinch of
Expectation, hope, elation.
Severity puts on its boots, stomps around
Sniffing the air askance.
Extravagant freshness, dewy possibility.
Expeditiously impress unacceptability on it,
Deny its existence, close the door on
Smiling visitor, well-intentioned.
Mindset of punishment
And retaliation, always
A message to be sent,
Incessant posturing,
Don’t show the chink
In the armor though
It can’t be missed in
All its withering
Insecurity, a single
Approach to everything.
Going back to the place
Where he grew up and
Finding that it is not
The same as he remembers,
Dreams of recapturing his
Youth dashed in an instant of
Realization that things can
Never be as they were,
No matter how much he
Wishes them to be.
They assert
The world will
Always be the same,
Will never change,
That people will
Invariably be the way
They have always been.
Pessimistic myopia
Asserted by dreamless
Sorts who have been
Hurt at some point and
Cannot trust that
There is still abundant
Kindness in the world.
Insist you can’t
Make things better,
And you’ll perpetuate
The familiar suffering,
Believe you can
Change the world,
And you will.
