poems about justice

Vagaries

A sticky web of
Interlaced interests
Colluding to stack
The deck against
Unsuspecting people
Struggling to make it
Day to day, and who
Have no time to dissect
The vagaries and minutiae
Required to gain entry
Into the exclusive club
With the wood-paneled walls
And oversize leather chairs,
Where cigar-smoke-wreathed
Movers and shakers wink
Knowingly at one another
While making absurd deals.

Get the Poetry Collection
Unconventional Being - Minimalist Poetry Book by Guy Farmer

Readers around the world have found pieces of themselves in these poems. Discover the collection.

Get Your Copy on Amazon

Look Away

Look away.
Nothing to see here.
Please don’t bother us
While we do things
To make your life
Miserable.

Right to Work

Neil is an autoworker
And is clapping joyfully
On election night as
He watches his favorite
Candidate (the one who
Champions Right to Work laws)
Pull ahead in the polls,
The likely winner of a
Hard-fought campaign.
When he takes office,
Auto assembly line workers,
And everyone else,
Will not be able to organize
Against the whims of
Their employers
(The very thing that helped
Build the middle class)
Earn a respectable wage,
Buy a house, a car,
Support a family,
Put a kid through college,
Live with some dignity
Instead of as prey for
An insatiable corporation.

Traveling Salesman

A traveling salesman
Rolls his cart
Into town and begins
Barking jovially about
His magic cure-all
Tonic called
The Free Market,
The guaranteed fix
For whatever ails you.
A crowd gathers,
Mesmerized by his
Persuasive message,
Buying bottle after
Bottle of the stuff,
Hurrying home to
Try the magic elixir.
Hours later, they
Lie in their beds,
Clutching their bellies.
A couple of towns over,
Another group of people
Gathers on main street.

Tormented

A hapless, powerless
Human being is beaten
To a bloody pulp
And allowed to die
By a group of arrogant,
Reckless hooligans
Employed by the state.

A tormented community
Takes to the streets,
Venting repressed anger,
A shared history of
Maltreatment and prosecution.
A smarmy politician
Bemoans the destruction.

Rampage

They obscure the truth
Behind petty, superficial
Distractions that mean
Nothing but avert attention
From what they’re really doing,
Destroying anything that
Benefits anyone else
But themselves,
Bullies on a rampage.

Speak Up

One person
Dares to
Speak up.

Another takes
Notice and
Joins in.

A movement
Coalesces and
Gains momentum.

A union of
Voices spreading
A message of hope.

They move
Forward with
Purpose and determination.

Their actions
Change
The world.

Everything Could Be Better

I wish I could convince him
That things don’t have to
Be this way, that we could
Make the world a less
Hard and cruel place than
It sometimes is, that
Everything could be better
If fewer people heeded the
Call of fear, anger, avarice,
And became open to love.

For Himself

He’s mortally afraid
That they’ll
Take away
What he has.

He’s indignant
That they’ll get
Something for free
And he won’t.

He writhes at the
Thought of someone
Undeserving usurping
His position.

He fights vociferously
When it’s even
Remotely suggested
That he share.

A social conscience
As yet undeveloped,
Living only
For himself.