When it’s one of
Their own,
They mourn gravely;
When it’s one
Of the outsiders,
They congratulate
Each other on
A job well done,
The sanctity of the
Clique intact.
I try to tell him
They mean business,
That this faction is
Different, unable to feel
When someone is hurting,
Devoid of conscience,
Lusting for power.
He doesn’t listen,
They’ve gotten to that
Part inside him where
The nightmares live,
Making it easier for
Them to continue their
Savage conquest.
So many things to
Take care of,
Seemingly all at once,
Barely able to cope
With even one task,
Let alone many,
A haze of anxiety.
He remembers a time
When it all seemed easier,
Though, upon reflection,
It might have never been.
Rough gashes ripped
In the societal fabric,
The contract between
Fellow human beings
Shredded without a care
Solely to protect
Privileged malefactors
Who go about their day
Deriding humaneness,
Stepping on anything that
Gets in the way of
Their vulgar needs.
The reproaches came swiftly,
Hitting their mark as they
Always had, bruises invisible
On the outside.
You didn’t contact me,
I was so upset,
You wanted me to do everything,
I was put on the spot.
Eyes closed in resignation,
It would always be this way,
The dull insensitivity of
The unreconstructed.
His life is
An ugly grimace,
A tawdry horror
Of pain and anger
Under a fetid pile of
Repellent cockiness
And a heart
Wrenched from him
A long time ago.
Thinking, behaving
In unison,
Each exactly as the other,
No variation,
Awash in uniformity,
Ignoring beauty,
Possibility.
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.
Stately columns adorning
A shaded portico,
Stately oaks lining
A shaded lane,
Lush, sultry greenery,
Small decrepit cabins nearby,
Inhabited by enslaved human beings
Whose toil builds ever-larger
Mansions where rulers
Live off the forced labor
Of others who have no choice
But to hope for a better day.
