Repositioning
Their masks,
Playing
Meticulously
Sanitized characters.
Time dutifully
Alters perception
Until it barely
Resembles anything
Tangible.
They try to go back,
But reality has an
Unsubtle way of
Imposing itself on
The wishful.
It’s painfully clear
That everything
We thought would
Happen will,
Depravity having
Its moment on stage,
Plunging
All else
Into darkness.
Brutalized by someone
They trusted,
Living adult lives of
Overt fear and anger,
Lashing out at
Imagined adversaries,
Pretending to be strong,
Whimpering inside,
Devotedly following the
First tyrant that
Comes their way.
Trying to find some
Semblance of feeling
Behind those lifeless eyes,
But there isn’t any,
Extinguished by some
Authority figure who
Taught him that
The world is a
Very hard place and
That he should
Be harder.
She’s talking about
Something very important
To her but it’s clear
All he hears is what
He’s able to assimilate,
Which isn’t that much,
And always seems related
To some strange need to
Protect himself from
Unseen dangers.
I talk with him or,
Perhaps I should say,
He talks at me,
And I immediately
Notice the tightness
In his face, a hardness
That is almost off-putting,
A sense that there is
Some kind of danger of
This person before me
Coming undone and causing
A caustic ruckus.
I wonder how he got
To this place and whether
He’ll ever leave it,
He says something or other
About the moochers.
She’s busy running across
The oversize rooms of
Their dream mansion,
Yet another party,
Yelling orders at the caterer,
Making sure the help’s uniforms
Look perfect, fretting about
The giant flower arrangements
On various tables, eager to
Show-off everything she owns,
All her stuff, all that she is.
The only thing
That satisfies them is
Power for its own sake.
No thoughts of
Helping anyone or
Building a better world.
Absolute selfishness,
Regard only for
Their own cravings.
The thoughts and
Actions of
The shattered.
Only thinking of
What they need in
This particular moment,
No consideration of
Anyone around them,
Moving through life on
Cognitive autopilot,
Unaware of anything
Other than themselves,
Oblivious existence.
