She talks about
An entire system
Set up to benefit
One group of people
Who never have to reflect
On why things are this way or
What it does to those
Not favored.
The people she’s talking with
All react with
Defensive outrage,
Proving her point,
Unaware of their privilege.
See them fall,
One by one,
Maudlin cries
Searching for
Meaning following
Their expiration
By nearly completely
Avoidable means.
Barely a single
Audible voice
Speaking on their
Behalf, imploring
Someone to do
Something about
Senseless carnage.
Silence, cowardice,
Sanctioned slaughter
To appease a lobby.
Why the decision was made
Is beyond his understanding,
Only able to see
What he presently knows,
Not realizing that
There are things
He does not yet grasp
That affect determinations
Made regarding what he does,
Not because of malice,
Personal whim, or caprice,
But rather something else
He will, hopefully,
One day comprehend.
Breathe in, for it will be a while
Before you can do it again.
Guard against marauding
Chimeras salivating for your soul.
Defensive posture, ready to
Strike at the smallest provocation
If need be (and there always is).
Don’t let them take anything from
You, crouch, crouch.
Pervasive greed
Supersedes everything else
As they make their
Way through
Stately corridors
Where, notably,
But not to them,
Their predecessors have
Made decisions that
Would benefit the
Greater good rather
Than fill the
Shaking hands of
Rotten megalomaniacs.
Look at me, look at me.
I want to be seen, I want to be seen.
Here’s my cat, here’s my cat.
I’m drinking coffee, I’m drinking coffee.
I’m so down, I’m so down.
I’m so up, I’m so up.
Message me, message me.
Talk to me, talk to me.
Are you there? Are you there?
I’m here, I’m here.
Look at me, look at me.
How easily he forgets
That success is very often
Not the result of pluck,
Or toil, or self-determination.
Talking to a group of colleagues
In an opulent board room,
The grind of the outside world
Doesn’t show its gnarled face.
Smug in their affluence,
Brash movers and shakers,
Out on the streets but
For the whim of fortune.
A vocal minority
Works tirelessly
To eradicate
Compassion
Empathy
Kindness
Community
From the lexicon.
Decisions made
By militant
Misanthropes
Affecting
Millions
Who value
Caring for
Others.
Eventually pulling back,
Putting some distance
Between him and the chaos,
Disorienting cacophony of
Scattered turmoil,
Confused muttering,
Rash reactions to undefined
Challenges, seeing the
Spectacle for what it is,
The disorder of wounds
Unhealed, dictating reaction,
A whirl of activity
Leading nowhere but distress,
Arriving at different points
For disparate reasons.
