Told he should not
Feel anything,
That he needs to
Push it down until
He, supposedly,
Can barely remember,
Erase it with some
Type of substance or
Surrogate behavior,
Chaotic flashes of a
Past best left behind
But never far away,
No matter what
The diversion.
He’s been incapable of
Accepting that
Times are changing and
That his exclusive club
Now lets in members
Who don’t look like him and,
He fears, will unravel
The whole scam.
Each key means something,
I try to make sense of it all,
Tapping randomly with
Little purpose beyond
Filling empty space.
It would be nice if at least
Part of it were meaningful,
But I know it’s not,
Nor do I expect it to be,
Unless something changes.
A group of people
Living in peace and harmony,
Supporting each other for
The common good.
One person emerges
Who craves a larger slice of
The pie for himself,
To fill a hole.
Balance interrupted,
Collaboration obstructed,
A test of their
Collective conscience.
A group of well-dressed,
Impeccably-coiffed
People relax in a
Posh restaurant,
Enjoying drinks and
Waiting for their order.
A light conversation
Rapidly becomes tense
When someone’s feelings
Are hurt which, in turn,
Causes someone else to
Become incensed, which
Leads to someone else crying
While two others argue
In the corner and someone
Else storms out of the room
On such a fine evening.
So, let try this again,
He says with an exasperated
tone, the same one
She’s heard too many times.
Clenching her teeth,
She smiles and concedes.
Some things aren’t worth
Fighting over.
She plans her future.
He doesn’t like or
Understand himself,
So he imposes his will
On others in order to
Temporary placate
Whatever noise is going on
In his head, the urge to
Soothe the inner discomfort
Greater than anything else,
A stunning inability to
See anything beyond his
Own itching needs.
Startled out of
A blissful slumber
By the sound of
Insecurity
Roaring by in a cloud of
Acrid smoke,
Whooping and hollering
About some shallow thing
That only matters to
Someone who has no sense of
What it means
To heal.
They bellow angrily about the
Urgent need to save our nation
From becoming a nightmarish
Place where everyone is
Treated equally, where each
Person enjoys the same opportunity
Regardless of who their parents are or
Where they live, a place
Where anyone can marry, where
No one walking down the street
Has to fear being shot by a
Fellow citizen or symbols in uniform,
Where a few rich people can’t
Own everything and leave nothing
For everyone else, where the deck
Isn’t stacked against you because of
What you look like,
Where we work together as a
Community instead of eyeing
Each other with suspicion,
Where we care for one another
Instead of trying to win.
