free verse poems

Whispers

He’s worked long hours
For many, many years,
Serving demanding patrons who
Often barely notice he’s there.

Every two weeks he checks
His bank account to make sure
His money has been deposited,
The future at stake.

Today his daughter found out
That she has a scholarship
To the local university’s
Medical program.

A couple of tables down,
A woman leans over to
Her husband and whispers
About the foreigner.

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I Can’t Convince You

I can’t convince you to be happy, to
Let go of the pain, to treat people well,
Like yourself, heal the hurts,
Overcome the fear.

I can’t implore you to dismiss many
Years of habit. Wavering foundation
Settling for crumbs, ease elusive,
A rippleless lake startled.

I can’t sway your mind to follow a
Sunny path lined with wildflowers,
Brimming with hope, the last cold
Gusts of winter warmed.

A New World

Don’t avoid me,
Assuming I’m
Different from you,
Trying to hurt you.

Talk with me instead about
How we can work together,
Fix what needs fixing,
Solve what needs solving.

As rivals we compete,
As friends we build
A new world
We both enjoy.

Glorious

They come in the
Middle of the night,
Unannounced,
Uninvited,
To pay a harrowing
Kind of visit where
The host disappears
For as long
As necessary to send
A clear and unequivocal
Message that dissent
Is not tolerated and
That there will be
No protesting against
Any of the glorious
Policies which have
Brought everyone
To this point.

No Other Way

Let’s go back
To those heady days
When we could own
People as property
And not pay them
For their labor.
Let’s work them
Until they drop,
Night and day,
As we become
Increasingly wealthier
At their expense.
Let’s close our eyes
To their suffering,
Supplications for mercy
Falling upon hardened
Hearts unable to feel.
As we sip mint juleps
At a garden party,
Lets pretend there’s
No other way to
Do things.

Juris without Prudence

His forebears fought
Mill owners for
Some modest bit of
Dignity at work.

Not so many years later,
He ascends to the
Pinnacle of his profession,
The highest seat of power.

He takes the hard-fought
Lessons of the past and
Ruthlessly maims them,
Juris without prudence.

A snide retort and sneer
All that remain of
A legacy of struggle
For fairness.

Supporters

This is what
It comes to and
What it’s always
Been like.
A human being’s
Life extinguished
By a system that
Doesn’t care for him,
About him,
Or his kind,
And a person who
Fears him.
Rabid supporters
Line up
To perpetuate
The sad narrative.

Fancy New Car

Everyone asks him
About his fancy new car;
He revels in the attention,
Offering gleefully meticulous
Explanations about everything
From how he bought it to
What’s going on under the hood,
A conspicuous absence of any
Conversation of real substance
Or a life of any significance
Beyond what everyone is
Already comfortable talking about,
A group of people standing
Around wearing masks.

Repeats

Single-minded, limited,
Inflexible, unyielding
Perspective, unwavering,
Unchanging, ungenerous.

Closed-fisted myopia
Fed by runaway fear.
A history of pain
Repeats itself.