poems about brokenness

This Way

What will happen when he
Achieves total world domination?
Will it quell the
Feelings of insecurity —
Restore to wholeness
Countless victims fallen
Prey to avarice?
It won’t matter in the end —
He’ll vanish in time —
As we all do.
The legacy of destruction
Cries louder than any
Philanthropic pretense,
Eviscerating the world
To seize some
Artificial sense of security.
As the smoke clears,
We discover, as always, that
It didn’t have to be this way.

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Discerning

When asked whether
Her book was in stores
Or had won any awards,
She knew she was not
In the presence of
Discerning supporters
But, rather, conventional
Creatures who only measure value
Based on prestige and status
Instead of understanding
The transcendence of her work.

All Him

Abundant wealth,
Copious success,
Bountiful opportunities,
Doors open at all turns.

Takes time out of busy schedule,
Attends local governance meetings,
Rails against
Programs for the less fortunate.

Compassion gene missing.
A series of people
Helped him along the way,
Fancies it was all him.

Run by Robots

Faceless behemoth,
Unaccountable,
Cold, unhelpful,
Unnecessarily complicated,
Lacking even the
Slightest bit of
Compassion,
No hint of humanity,
Run by robots.

Group

It’s always so great when everyone
In the group falls in line, goes with
The program, follows the rules,
Laughs at the same jokes,
Talks about familiar topics,
Understands the same references.

A group of high school students
Eyeing each other, clamoring to
Be heard, preening, posing, straining to
Get along until one word, a look,
A perception, pierces fragile skin.
Cracks appear, filled with hurts.

Wails

Shadowy miscreants
Pulling strings from
Perches high atop
The oligarchy.
Narrow gnarled psyches
Bent on grabbing everything,
Leaving everyone else
In tatters.
A world birthed by
Utter greed,
Nothing ever enough,
The wails within
Never satiated,
Smoldering ruins of
Entire civilizations
Left behind.

Opportunity

A kind gesture, friendly hello,
Warm greetings, fond memories
Shared, messages exchanged.
Implicit, comfortable trust renewed.

A unique opportunity to translate
Goodwill into cash, awkwardly
Project, ascribe meaning, sell.
A devalued person, a commodity,
To be used.

Exasperation

He was dissatisfied with his life and
Let everyone know about it.
A pummeling stream of invectives and
Vituperation aimed at anything or
Anyone in the vicinity.

Relentless exasperation and acrimony.
Dumping a full can of summer garbage on
Anyone unfortunate enough to inquire about
His day. A steady slow-motion fall onto
A mattress of rocks and glass shards.

Unconscious

Of all the things
He could be doing,
He chooses the one
That hurts people.

Unfeeling,
Driven only by an
Unconscious need
For supremacy.

No joy around here,
Only hardness and pain,
Violence and horror,
Absence of light.