Some will admit it or
Reveal themselves through
Coarse comments or actions,
Others keep it under wraps
Unless they’re around
Their peers, in which case
It’s a free for all of
Jovial denigration.
Underneath it all
The thing they’ve been told
Their entire lives,
That they’re the rightful
Heirs to the throne.
Questioning, unquestioning,
Transition from something else
Unwanted but without alternative,
More of the same, continuing
Down the path unconscious until
Some other opportunity appears
And changes everything because
We dared to entertain things from
Another perspective and left
Everything else behind.
How to be a pompous rich person:
Be at the right place
At the right time,
Then pretend your success
Is due to your
Exceptional clairvoyance,
Superior specialness,
Rare ability to
Toil harder than
The person washing your dishes
In the tony restaurants you frequent.
Also, look down
On human beings who haven’t
Had the same luck as you,
Say stuff about how they
Aren’t driven, and believe it,
After all, your
Flimsy self-worth and
Brittle facade
Depend on it.
Harsh,
Uncompromising,
Lacking even the
Most basic civility.
Sometimes
Pain obliterates
Everything
Else.
Each day
A new
Opportunity
Missed.
If only there were
Some proven way to
Extract the hardness
From the world and
Replace it with
Softness, kindness,
Empathy, all the things
Damaged people recoil from
And push to the side
As they destroy the world…
There is, and it’s called
Healing one’s hurts.
Her past actions
Weighed heavily on her now
As they returned to
Torment her in ways she
Had hoped they would not but
Knew were inevitable,
An outstanding debt
For unmindful decisions
Come due and payable in
Inescapable anguish.
The depths of their
Depravity is predictably
Revealed—they never really
Cared for anyone but themselves
And their own kind but always
Tried to put some kind of
Benevolent face on it.
They show their support for
A dictator in waiting,
Someone who makes their
Broken psyches throb with delight.
It all seemed to be
Going so well,
Friendly, enthusiastic interactions
Jarringly replaced by something
Very different,
Coming from a place
Not typically
Shown to strangers.
Government isn’t some
Scary monster out to
Eat you and your children,
It’s merely a reflection
Of its citizens’ priorities.
We can decide that
Altruism is important
In a civilized society,
Or that we are
Just snarling creatures
Fighting each other
For survival,
Guarding our dens.
