It’s as if
They’ve lost
The ability to
Feel anything,
Empathy replaced
By a grim,
Cold numbness.
Not a moment’s peace for her,
A self-imposed trajectory
Unimpeded by introspection or
Even the faintest understanding
That maybe things
Could be different.
She’s become so used to
This particular routine,
Refusing to consider any other,
Shallow depth of field,
Never seeing the horizon.
Human suffering
Appears to have
Absolutely no impact
On him.
He doesn’t seem
To care at all whether
A child goes hungry
Or a mother falls ill.
No concept of
Fairness, equality,
Or trace of most
Basic compassion.
Nobody ever helped him,
Completely self-made,
At least that’s what
He tells others.
Mindset of punishment
And retaliation, always
A message to be sent,
Incessant posturing,
Don’t show the chink
In the armor though
It can’t be missed in
All its withering
Insecurity, a single
Approach to everything.
All he’s ever done
Is impose his will
On others,
Trample on their peace
And well-being,
Infringe upon their
Comfort,
Do whatever he wants,
When he wants to.
You didn’t have to leave me like that,
Holding my disbelief, a goldfish in a
Plastic bag, swimming aimlessly without
Anywhere to go, hope of escape,
Knowledge of anything else.
I’d grown accustomed to our dance,
The one where you lift me and
Let me down and throw me up in the air
Only to watch me fall, a knot of bruised
Feelings, unresolved questions.
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.
Single-minded, limited,
Inflexible, unyielding
Perspective, unwavering,
Unchanging, ungenerous.
Closed-fisted myopia
Fed by runaway fear.
A history of pain
Repeats itself.
Looking out over the sea of
Beaming, proud, sputtering faces,
He remembers no specific
Moment when he was forced
To decide, but rather a pervasive,
All-encompassing presumption
Of how it should, would be.
His heart’s desires too small,
Too insignificant to compete with
Countless years of tradition
Pulling him into a metal box and
Swiftly sealing it with powerfully
Misplaced notions, expectations.
