poems about brokenness

Big and Strong

Cowards assembling in groups
Intended to intimidate the
Already voiceless and powerless,
Promoting cruel beliefs
Steeped in fictitious phobias
Arising from profound insecurity,
A grim posse hunting down
It’s next victim,
Anyone who doesn’t conform
To their warped sense of entitlement.
They smile at each other,
Feeling big and strong for this brief moment.

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Slaughtering peaceful protesters
To protect a contaminated system
Put in place to protect only
Those who adhere to the party line,
The evening news proclaims
The rioters have been dealt with
And order once again rules.
Harsh oppressors without conscience,
The same story told in
Countless languages,
Appalling violence perpetuated
On the subjugated to appease
The obscene needs of psychopaths.

Dare

Don’t you dare call him by
His real name,
You must use his title
Lest you incur the wrath of
He whose insecurity is
So pervasive that it forces
Other people to genuflect before him,
Filling him momentarily with
An illusion of superiority,
Of being on top of someone else and
Thus being more important,
A quivering mass of
Power-seeking obnoxiousness.

What’s Yours

Put people down
Who have no power,
Afflict the afflicted,
Celebrate power differentials,
Relish submission,
Build forbidding structures
That keep people deferential,
Make fun of them
When they try to speak
Out against oppression,
Scream bigotry when people
Call you on yours,
Perpetuate the system,
Keep what’s yours.

Display

An ostentatious display of
Diplomas, certificates, awards,
Photos with prominent people,
Carefully framed for
Maximum prominence,
Clutter every wall,
Screaming for attention,
Recognition, validation,
An unwitting plea from an
Outwardly confident professional
Perpetually endeavoring to prove
How powerful she is.

Unexamined

Diseased ethos
Mired in past pain,
Searing hurt,
Unresolved damage.

Each day a
New opportunity to
Inflict torment
On others.

Rancid, rotting, wretched,
Averse to the light,
Unexamined life,
Misery manifest.

Matching

Flaunting the
Fanciest degrees
From exclusive
Institutions of
Higher learning,
They congregate in
Self-serving groups,
Roaring about their
Accomplishments,
Grooming one another,
Completely lacking
Vision or depth,
A herd of ordinary
Matching dolts.

Substance

Given everything
On a silver platter coated in platinum
With no expectation of repayment,
Every whim and caprice indulged,
A cocky, belligerent simpleton
Throwing his privilege around,
Demanding attention
Where none is due,
Overstating his ability,
Pretending to be extraordinary,
All swagger and no substance.

Cataclysm

Instead of healing,
They choose to
Inhabit the nether regions
Where outwardly normal monsters
Work out their darkest pathologies
On innocent bystanders,
Sociopaths preying on
The vulnerable without even
A hint of remorse,
Festering, rancid inner wounds
Oozing fetid pus,
An avoidable cataclysm.