You’re valuable,
Important,
Unique,
Extraordinary,
Wonderful,
Worthwhile,
Amazing,
Marvelous,
Magnificent.
You matter.
They were taken aback when
The child spoke freely,
Unencumbered by strictures,
Joyfully sharing his experience.
It felt strange, uncomfortable
To them, but only until they
Realized he had been
Given the gift of a voice.
Only thinking of
What they need in
This particular moment,
No consideration of
Anyone around them,
Moving through life on
Cognitive autopilot,
Unaware of anything
Other than themselves,
Oblivious existence.
They recognize each other,
Indistinguishable,
Echoing the same message,
No divergence of thought,
Satisfied with repeating
Common duplicate drivel,
Absence of critical thinking,
Ordinariness esteemed,
Swimming with the stream.
On hold for a long time,
Hoping for relief,
Getting none,
Wondering what’s next
When there are no options
And time is of the essence.
Leave a message,
Hope for a call back,
Repeat the process.
Power warps the ordinary
Human mind to such a degree that
It’s rare to find someone who
Ascends to great heights
Yet remains able to feel
The suffering of millions
Who desperately need help,
A compassionate radical who
Understands their plight and
Possesses the courage to
Help level the playing field.
It’s easy to enjoy the trappings
Of privilege, quite another to
Use your position to make the
World a better place.
He’s furious about
The customer service agent
With an accent but
Not at all concerned about
Ravenous corporations
Taking advantage of human beings
In impoverished countries,
Paying them a pittance.
It’s not so difficult
For people to come together
In a spirit of
Collaboration and peace,
It just requires that we
Put aside the need to
Feel superior to some other
Person or group,
Label them as other so
We can push them aside,
Project our inner wounds on them,
Take advantage of them
For personal gain.
Getting along with others
Is possible, countless people
Co-exist in harmony every day,
We’re wired to be social,
Now all we need to do is
Heal the individuals who
Promote the mistaken notion
That we’re somehow different
From one another and always
Have to be in conflict.
He always has a
False narrative
Playing in his head,
Protecting him from reality,
Shielding him from
The things he’d rather not look at,
And who he’s become.
