He has no answers,
So he surmises that
All one can do is
Judge coldly,
Based on no information,
A twisted perspective
Instilled by inculcation:
Rigid, inflexible,
Devoid of reason,
Disturbingly harsh,
One-dimensional.
Of the many
Choices available
To them, they revere
The ones that will
Cause unthinkable
Devastation to an
Unfathomable number of
Vulnerable people,
Just one of the
Benefits of never having
To think about anyone
But yourself.
Everyone they know
Hates someone from
The other side,
Yet they come together,
Make friends,
Share stories,
Discover how much
They have in common.
He fancies himself
Superior,
The smug emperor
Standing on the
Heads of his subjects,
Declaring that
They’re far better
Off with the
Prospect of
Illness and
Ruination.
They hope you won’t
Notice everything
They’re taking away,
How they’re obliterating
Compassion and decency,
Leaving behind a charred
Dystopia with a few obscenely
Affluent creatures reveling in
Manicured enclaves
Surrounded by monstrous gates.
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.
They went out today,
A now-infrequent splurge,
Can’t do it as much
Anymore, prices have
Gone up by at least
fifty percent, what
Used to be absorbable
Is now much more draining,
A larger percentage of
Non-increasing wages
Taking away from necessities
While the powers that be
Dine without worries.
It doesn’t really
Matter to them
What they say or do
As long as it forces
The desired result,
Kindness and compassion
Are not even part of
The deliberative process,
Only calculations to
Grab and retain power.
