Every single answer on
A lovely tidy platter placed
Over a yawning chasm
Drawing every bit of matter
Toward its voracious mouth
Lined with sharp teeth and
Rampant uncertainties.
The stuff of life covered by
A gleaming lid promising
Complete absolution from
Experience, courage, joy.
Walking down the street
On the way to the store
One fine summer day,
He encounters an older
Woman who looks at him
With dread and hastily
Moves away from him
As he wonders what
Just happened, later
Realizing it was what
It has always been.
Awakening from the nightmare,
Historic opportunity to
Boldly demarcate the
Difference between
Right and wrong –
Truth and mendacity –
Reality versus fiction.
Rectify callous denigrating,
Pillaging, looting, subjugating.
Inestimable moment
Squandered in the name of
Equivalence, civility.
Abject lack of courage,
Worsening suffering,
Inability to change course.
Too many years toiling in
Dangerous surroundings, risking
Life and limb with every passing
Eternity.
Too many years wiping the dust
From his eyes, a hacking cough a
Perpetual reminder of his career
Choice.
Too many years. His son came of
Age and was pridefully encouraged,
Expected, to carry on the family
Tradition.
He puts a label on everything.
You’re this way, you’re that way.
He’s this, she’s that.
This is like this, this is like that.
A petty mind constricting its
Environment, stuffing it into
A box too small. Proscribe the
Outliers, dictate the parameters,
Keep the barbarians outside
The gates. Settle in for a
Comfortable spell in the lazy,
Soft throne of delusion.
I don’t call myself
A feminist, but
I wholeheartedly
Support everything
They have
Fought for
And all they
Believe in,
I just can’t
Tell my family
Friends, co-workers,
They would never
Understand
I am not
Like them.
During a moment of
Unadulterated optimism,
He told them about
His desire to pursue
An art career and they,
Being of upright and
Morally sound carriage,
Applied a heavy coat of
Judgment and suspicion
Onto his dreams,
Same as they always had,
Always would,
Courage and change
Not being all that
Salient to them.
He claims to love.
When faced with
Crucial opportunities
To demonstrate it,
He chooses his default
Position, the one that
Requires no thought
Or effort, the only
Strategy he knows.
So many occasions to
Show his concern,
It’s in there,
Smothered by fear.
He puffs out his chest
Indignantly,
Doubles down on
Cowardice.
With beady eyes,
Strained countenances,
False smiles,
They promise perpetual
Happiness by giving
Up the self, a willful
Transfer of power
From within to without,
Grounded in fear,
Subservience, ignorance,
A denial of fact for
The comfort of
Unwavering certainty.
Do what we say,
Live the right way,
You will be rewarded
Some day, send your
Everything today.
