Love selectively. Others
Who need attention are
Not worthy. Sing solely to
Those who are weary of your song.
Fight fiercely for those who
Share your experience.
Congratulations are in order.
I’m on my phone.
I’m on my phone.
Important as the next.
I’m on my phone.
I’m on my phone.
Furiously feeding my soul.
I’m on my phone.
I’m on my phone.
It will matter someday.
It’s not that funny when you’re the object of
Scorn and manipulation, subtly executed.
Stand right here for eighteen years,
I’ll show you what it’s like.
Difficult to make out any one thing let alone
Remember the specific time I failed under its
Growing weight. Slow motion immobilization.
Come now, I’ll tell you more about it.
Let us relive those glory days when,
Big as a mountain, you saw fit to
Slide into the valley silencing all
But your conscience.
Close your mind and go to sleep.
Don’t let pesky knowledge interfere with
Hard-fought obstinacy and practiced
Fact resistance. Cherish the slumber of
Those who sleep awake.
What if I told you I don’t care
What you say or what you do
Or how you do it or why you think
It’s the most important thing in the world.
I bet you’d keep talking about yourself.
So absorbed was he
With himself that no
Other person’s needs
Merited even a moment’s
Pause or the slightest
Consideration.
Feverish quest for
Attention and gratification,
A cavernous hole that
Can never be filled,
Consuming all energy
And purpose.
We sit down and
He listens to
What I have to say,
Without twitching,
Rebutting, defending,
Or interrupting,
A scenario that
Will never transpire but
That nonetheless makes
For a nice dream.
She rages at people
Who receive support
To feed their children,
Keep a roof over their heads,
Remain contributing members of society
Rather than scorned pariahs,
Cast off and left to perish.
She conveniently forgets the
Many times that some person
Helped her in a time of need,
A friend, a co-worker,
A family member, someone who
Believed that she just needed
A little temporary assistance.
Unforgiving,
Unbendable inflexibility,
Aggressive, hardened stance.
Lack of nurture,
Scarcity of empathy,
Shrinking kindness,
Clenched fist of authority,
Enforcing rules,
Unprepared.
