Heartwarming ads
Every few minutes.
Get an education,
Career training,
Change your life,
Live your dreams,
Financial assistance for
Those who qualify.
A for-profit mill
Churning out greed-stained
Worthless pieces of paper
At public expense,
Lining the pockets of
Shadow tycoons
Relishing engorged
Earnings reports.
Somewhere in the
Recesses of his mind,
The tight feeling
In the stomach,
Two days since the
Last shared
Convenience store burrito.
Unwashed clothes
Discarded by others.
Sudden moves in the
Middle of the night,
Another motel,
New set of strange faces.
The shouting, chaos,
Lack of privacy, peace.
Missing school again.
Memories too painful
Engender a caustic
Loathing toward
Those suffering a
Similar plight
Just a couple of
Miles away,
Lest he return.
He looks out
Over the grounds,
Turns and
Shuts the door.
It would be nice if, just once,
You thought of someone who
Is not you. Not that there’s anything
Wrong with the way you impose
Your damage on those who are
Required to love you, pause.
It’s clear to everyone but you
How you feel about yourself.
Don’t do a thing, everyone else
Will adjust, bend, break.
When will this end?
Constant, unmerciful,
Unyielding, unending
Sameness. Stunted.
Expand rapidly, move, race,
Reach. The one you are
Exuberantly celebrated.
Arms open as wings.
Lavish gifts
Showered on cronies,
Monumental resistance to
Providing pathetic pittances
For toiling families.
Loud cackling protest when
Aid is given to
The inferior,
Unworthy,
A wink when
Funneled to
Unaccountable players.
A cut for the needy,
Meager minds content.
Fragile,
Requiring constant care,
Vigilance,
Reverence for the common good.
How easily it is
Torn apart by
Indifference, greed, myopia.
Taken for granted
Until it’s not there any more,
People in disbelief,
Wondering what happened.
Logical extension,
Abstract philosophy
Becomes reality.
Involuntary servitude,
Forced labor for
No wages,
Unregulated ownership of
Everything, everyone.
Severe order imposed,
Ruthless opportunists
Extinguishing dignity,
Independence.
No one there.
No one there.
Where’d they go?
I don’t know.
I’ll wait a moment.
I’ll wait a lifetime.
I’ll wait no longer.
I’ll wait perpetually.
He went to his grave
Without having to
Say I’m sorry,
Leaving behind a legacy of
Pain and destruction
Born of pettiness and fear,
Helping no one,
Advancing no noble cause,
Only there to tend to
His abject brokenness.
