poems about brokenness

Cabal

Tears well up in his eyes,
Not for reasons pure.

Visible to all but the unreceptive,
A lifetime of indulgence.

Some shout at the top of their lungs,
Nothing to see here.

The boys’ club furiously
Protecting its own.

Nothing will stop them,
There’s power at stake.

Arrogance in the face of truth,
Bristling when discovered.

No justice will be done today,
Nor ever from this cabal.

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Aspire

An old photograph reminds
Him of when he cared way too
Much about what other people
Thought about him.
He smiles, remembering
Those directionless days when
He didn’t realize
That there was much more to
Aspire to than
The clothes he wore,
Car he drove,
Area he lived in,
Friends he had, or whatever
Superficial image he
Was trying to project.
Many years have passed and
He has put very little work
Into growing,
Still trying to catch the eye of
Anyone looking his way,
Dazzle them with his superficiality.

Nice Boy

Such a nice boy,
Subjected to constant
Suppression and domination
Over so many years.
His hopefulness fractures,
He loses his ability to
Feel for himself or others
And becomes what he
Swore he never would.

Tenuous

Thinking punitively,
That’s all she knows,
All actions directed
At protecting the
Tenuous sense of
Safety she struggles
Mightily to maintain,
Everything is
A possible attacker
Who must be
Defended against.
She manages to
Consistently err on
The side of overreaction,
Striking preemptively
Instead of offering
The benefit of the doubt
Or some semblance
Of kindness, trust.

Nobody Talks about It

Quaint cottage on
A towering cliff,
Small garden,
A single tree,
Having coffee together
Looking out the window.
She leaves and is
Never seen again.
Nobody talks about it
But they’re pretty
Sure what happened.

Patchwork

Unconsciously following
What he thinks is his brain
But is really just the
Manifestation of hurts
Wedged in there by people
Who meant well but didn’t
Have a clue what it was
To help a human being
Become whole rather than
An animate patchwork.

Narrow

If there is a path to kindness,
They will find a way to
Destroy it. If something
Can be done to make others’
Lives easier, It will be ignored.
When someone needs help, they’ll
Be sure to ignore the call,
Blame the victim, nothing being
More important than protecting
Their own narrow interests.

Chosen

They see themselves
As the chosen ones,
Which unfortunately
Always seems to mean
That someone else is
Not quite as special.

Thus begins a campaign
To assert their supremacy,
To put others down
In order to buoy their
Own status or sense of
Self-importance.

A never-ending cycle of
Feeling superior and
Fighting rabidly to
Maintain their position
Regardless of how it
Tears up the world.

Everything Is Okay

Pretending
That everything
Is okay,
An empty
Charade,
Much like
The rest of
Their lives.