modern poet

What He Knows

Absence of light in his eyes,
Extinguished long ago
By the very people
Who could have kindled it –
Cared for him as a
Precious gift.

Some stories don’t end
The way we might wish,
Meandering in some awful
Direction instead,
Consuming themselves and us –
Unconscious coldness.

He doesn’t lack certainty,
Absolutely sure that
Hardness is the best path
To everything, it’s
What he knows, the only
Thing he recognizes.

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Contradictions and Dissonance

He fails to see
The blatant inconsistencies
In what he says he believes
And what he does,
A detail which is completely
Lost on him,
As is much of his life,
A swirling mess of
Contradictions and dissonance,
Unreconciled,
Unwhole,
Unpleasant.

Claptrap

Snatching a seat at the imposing
Exotic wood table,
Bloviating obliviously at the
Assembled underlings
Effusively and expeditiously
Commending every assertion and
Irrational pronouncement
Encased in exclusionary,
Unintelligible claptrap.
A miasma of incontinent adulation,
Widgets and metrics lain upon
The altar of vacuous selfdom.

Laid Off

She’s been unemployed
For two years
Since being laid off
From her long-time job.

On the news,
They keep crowing
About how much better
Things are.

She walks in the door
Of a temp agency
Where she’s greeted
Politely.

A young woman
Asks her to have a seat
At a long table and
Fill out an application.

When she’s done,
She’s told to wait for an
Additional screening
By another staff member.

She goes into a small
Room to take a variety
Of tests to determine
What she can do.

She’s told to call
Early each morning
To check for any jobs
That may be available.

Whom We Serve

Handsome young couple,
Loving, caring, thoughtful,
Tax-paying citizens,
Doting parents,
Well-educated,
Productive members of
The community,
Walk into a universe
Steeped in dogma,
Fear, anxiety, unease.
Suspicious glances presage
Overt taunts, open derision.
How dare you show
Yourselves in a decent
Place like this,
Take your perversion
Somewhere else,
This is a righteous
Family establishment,
We choose whom we serve.

Many People

Many people said he wouldn’t succeed and
He didn’t because he listened to them.
Many people said she wouldn’t succeed and
She gave up because she believed them.
Many people said they wouldn’t succeed and
They discarded their vision.

Many people say all kinds of things,
Preferring to reside on the periphery of
Vulnerability and courage rather than jump in
The maelstrom and prove their mettle.
Easy to hold someone back when you’re
Already behind. Avert your ears.

Philanthropy

Fawning fanfare,
Large endowment to
An institution
Solely benefiting
Those with access,
Dubious magnanimity.
Qualified selective giving,
Hearty pat on the back,
Enlarging a castle
Only a few can enter,
Exclusive membership club.
Generosity preserving
De facto demarcations,
Philanthropy of inequality.

Like Me

Wear your clothes like me
Wear your hair like me.
Wear your beliefs like me.
Drive the same vehicle as me.
Drive the people around you
Crazy like me.
Drive yourself into the
Ground like me.

Who you are, where you come from,
Who you worship is my concern.
What music do you listen to?
To whom do you listen?
Who are you like me?

Diatribe

Eyes bereft of
All feeling,
Standing woodenly at a podium
Denigrating human beings —
Blithe devaluation —
They choose to live in squalor,
Culture of poverty.
Same old story,
Proposing to replace
Meager,
Subsistence assistance with
Nothing.
Rail against compassion —
Programs haven’t worked,
Complete failure,
Spotty results at best.
No new ideas,
The same heartless diatribe,
Let them fend for themselves.