A brown man
Walks down the
Street and nobody
Thinks twice
About it.
It doesn’t
Have to be
Us versus them,
People have shown
Again and again
That they can
Live in harmony,
Care for one another,
Behave compassionately.
When it’s one of
Their own,
They mourn gravely;
When it’s one
Of the outsiders,
They congratulate
Each other on
A job well done,
The sanctity of the
Clique intact.
When asked what kind of
World we can build
For our workers, he answers
That we have a fundamental
Choice as to whether we
View employees as expendable
Nuisances that are only worth
Abusing and excluding from
The company’s success, or
Creating a climate where those
Who toil have the opportunity
To reap the rewards of their
Labor rather than handing it
To a few at the top,
A real sharing economy.
It’s not irrational to
Expect leaders to
Encourage our better nature,
Promoting collaboration
To create a stronger
Whole instead of
Pandering to base
Instincts that keep us
Fighting one another
And destroying our
Shared habitat;
We need not settle for
Selfishness when we
Can realize so many
Things together.
I try to tell him
They mean business,
That this faction is
Different, unable to feel
When someone is hurting,
Devoid of conscience,
Lusting for power.
He doesn’t listen,
They’ve gotten to that
Part inside him where
The nightmares live,
Making it easier for
Them to continue their
Savage conquest.
Each of us can
Love more than hate,
Help one another more
Than compete, understand
Rather than become enraged,
Yet we ignore these gifts.
The only creature that
Can shape its own mind
Repeatedly dooms itself
To self-annihilation by
Not healing its
Unresolved hurts.
It remains not just a dream
To build a world where
We care for one another,
Celebrate our commonalities,
Exercise our innate ability to
Live in harmony.
As long as everyone looked
Like them, believed and
Behaved similarly,
They were happy.
It was only when
People they were not
Familiar with started
Appearing in the neighborhood
That rumors started to spread
About how the new arrivals
Were going to take over and
Destroy their way of life.
Each day her dollar
Buys less and less,
Each expected and
Unexpected expense
Gobbling up a larger
Slice of an already
Meager pie, leaving
Nothing but debt,
Deprivation.
