Thinking, behaving
In unison,
Each exactly as the other,
No variation,
Awash in uniformity,
Ignoring beauty,
Possibility.
They screech and howl
When the people they
Don’t deem fit get any
Kind of help from the
Government, while
Conveniently looking
The other way when
They or someone they
Approve of receives
The same assistance.
I realized something was
Wrong the moment I saw you,
Though I desperately tried to
Pretend I didn’t know.
So much time and energy
Invested in something so temporary,
A fleeting moment’s peace,
Short-lived reassurance.
Changing direction,
I hope no one recognizes
What’s going on,
When it suddenly collapses.
For a while
It was no longer happening.
They wondered why.
It all returned to
Normal after a while,
Unfortunately.
He sits on his comfortable couch
In his comfortable house
Comfortably talking about
How uncomfortable it makes him
When one of those homeless
Lowlifes walks down his street
And how he’s going to
Do something about it someday.
At the end of another
Day on the picket line,
Shouting herself hoarse,
Enduring taunts from
Constricted, angry faces,
Walking miles so that
Others might not have to
Do the same, toiling on
Behalf of the less fortunate
Who have no voice,
She puts her coat in the closet,
Throws on some comfortable
Clothes and lies down
On the couch, quickly
Dozing off to dream
Of fewer battles.
Dreams overlooked,
A mocking laugh bids
Possibility goodbye while
In another corner of the
Planet someone understands
That we all do much better
When we take care of
Each other and the fragile
Place we all inhabit.
It’s a sad, troubling moment
When you perceive the closing of
A mind, the point at which you
Realize that you’re not talking
With the same person you once
Knew but one who has become
Permeated by something other
Than what you both used to
Consider so commonplace that
It was never even mentioned.
I chance upon
A much-beloved song
From long ago.
A flood of memories,
Youth, hope, wonder,
Pervasive self-loathing.
Dreams of being loved,
Someday, by someone,
In a different time.
