deep poems

False Equivalence

They say they’re all the same.
Throw them all out,
They’re all on the take,
Except that some of them
Want everyone to be
Treated with compassion and
Others don’t.
Some want to help the
Poor succeed and
Others don’t.
Some want to level
The playing field and
Others don’t.
Some want everyone
To have access to health care and
Others don’t.
Some want equal rights for all and
Others don’t.
A cursory look reveals
Both sides aren’t the same
At all, but the trope lives on,
Just as those who benefit
From false equivalence and
Confusion want it to.

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Formative

Bruised during the most
Important formative years,
She grew up to crave power,
Dominance, control over others.

Routinely battered
Throughout her upbringing,
She flowered into a beautiful
Champion of the meek.

Unfamiliar

Charting an unsteady course
Home from a party where
He enjoyed twenty too many,
It struck him that he was in an
Unfamiliar house.
Stumbling through rooms,
Desperately trying not
To announce his presence or
Bother anyone,
Maddeningly unable to do
Anything but flounder
Helplessly as he careened
From point to point.
A sad young creature winding
Its way toward a place it
Doesn’t want to be.

Reassuring Words

A series of crises jolt frail,
Susceptible minds into visceral fear.
Whom to blame, someone, anyone.
Single out the weakest,
Attach despective labels.
Rail against fabricated enemies of
Crumbling state of mind.
Revel in the reassuring words of
Mendacious itinerant salesmen,
Venal opportunists promising to
Protect you from your
Recurring, misplaced nightmare and
Restore order.

Relief

I used to agonize about every
Little thing, no matter how
Minuscule, insignificant,
Unremarkable.

Now I save my energy for
Medium size debacles, which
Seem to visit
With similar frequency.

Perhaps one day
I’ll welcome a new visitor
Who offers me solace,
Long-awaited relief.

So I May

If my child were hurting,
I would do everything in
My power to make sure
She is OK. I would commit
Revolutionary acts like
Setting my own stuff aside and
Putting her needs first.
My thoughts, opinions,
Pronouncements, obscurements,
Insecurities and complications
Wait their turn so I may take
Care of my child instead of
My own issues for a change.

Repeatedly

An excruciatingly unwelcome moment for
Someone who so desperately needs to
Be loved. The unwavering stare of flowering
Affection, the heightened awareness,
Euphoric rush intermingled with boundless
Expectation. The last look, final embrace,
A beautiful story relegated to the past
Before it commences, a memory to be
Replayed yearningly, repeatedly.

I Never Thought

I never thought it would be
You who would betray my
Trust, shred my dignity,
Stain my dreams, scoff at
My pain, inject doubt into
My being. A childish game,
Played by a twitching dolt,
Callously consequential.

Tremors

I didn’t realize at the time
That my being was being
Crushed, image manipulated,
Distorted into disbelief.

Moving hesitantly, beseeching
Help for the most simple of tasks,
Waiting for approval that never came,
Tremors of self-doubt enduring.

Erase my horizons, tell me there
Is no sunrise. I’ll come along,
Heart exposed, eager to please,
Unwitting accomplice.