Fortress built
One impenetrable,
Insurmountable block
At a time.
Walls several feet thick,
Impeding progress,
Natural tide held back
If only for a while.
Looking over their shoulders
At adversaries
Perpetually storming
The walls.
Stop being so hard.
I can’t.
Stop being so mean.
I won’t.
Stop being so controlling.
I refuse.
O.K. Continue as you are.
I will.
Afraid he’ll lose
His stuff, position,
Rank, privileges,
He concocts a vision of
An idyllic realm
Where every man
Fends for himself.
Survival of the fittest,
Each his own island,
The market shall provide.
Keep those leeches off
The dole, level the
Playing field to
Exclusionary perfection.
No need to cogitate about
The complexities of community,
Selfless caring for
Fellow human beings,
Just leave it to the
Marauding packs of
Feral creatures.
Day 31
Begin meetings with
Cronies who have
Agreed to split their
Take with me
Shuffle money my
Way maintain
False fronts to
Obscure my efforts to
Pay myself
Handsomely
Itching for a fight,
Show them who’s boss,
Impose order,
Protect the community
From people like them.
A routine day,
Surveying their domain,
Stalking the next victim,
Taking away another’s dignity,
Excessive overreaction,
Unnecessary assaults,
Quenching a blood thirst.
Paragons of virtue
Castigating with impunity,
Dutifully toiling,
Subdue and harass
Those animals.
I don’t care
What you say,
I’m going to
Walk over there,
Right now, and
Sit on that waffle.
Countless felled by
Machines that cannot –
Will not – be stopped
By ravenous overlords.
The extraction of
The soul through
Bombast, pomp,
Promised happiness.
Unsympathetic ears
Only hear the
Clinking of metal
Upon shining metal.
No life is precious
In this universe of
Cold numbers,
Figures, subterfuge.
He candidly shares
His personal story
Of self-reliance,
Hard work, family values,
Community, (family money).
He wants to change the world by
Reducing the size of the government
And putting power back
Where it belongs:
In the hands of business.
He fires off specious statistics about
How poorly we’re doing and
How much things have declined,
Due to the reactionary policies
He emphatically champions.
His unflinching eyes betray
Not a hint of compassion,
The irony of the colossal joke
He’s animatedly urging people to
Believe in, again.
No one could identify the exact
Moment when he turned the corner.
It might have been the death of his
Brother, or an unexpected call
Announcing he was to be a father, or
His hours being cut at the plant.
Regardless, he showed no exterior
Signs of discomfort except for the
Occasional grumpy comment.
He went on as if everything was
Business as usual, the new him
Gradually revealed.
