None of them
Have any interest
In helping the
Less fortunate,
Although a couple
Of them talk
A good game to
Give their cronies
The cover they
Need to do
Heinous things.
She’s thrown to the floor
By someone sworn to
Protect her,
In front of her classmates,
Who understand what’s
Really going on and how
It could be them,
And has already been the
Relative they visit
Once in a while,
Labeled early on as
Troublemakers who deserve
To be penned and forgotten.
He has a high tolerance
For the suffering of others,
Doesn’t seem to mind any
Kind of imbalance between
People, unless he’s on
The losing side of it,
But as long as it’s about
Some other person or group,
He couldn’t care less.
He climbs on a
Trash pile,
The only life he’s
Ever known,
On the outskirts of
A city where
Other people
Make plans
To keep him
Exactly where he is
In perpetuity.
So, this is how it goes
In this economic construct,
Companies so powerful they can
Do whatever they want to
Whomever they wish,
Without fear of repercussion,
Complete impunity,
Absolute lack of remorse.
She tries to have an earnest
Conversation with a relative
About why war is necessary
When there are so many other
Peaceful options available.
She shares her perspective that,
Along with the desire to
Destroy one another,
Humans possess an equal or greater
Capacity for altruism and love.
Appealing to his sense of decency,
Which she’s seen many times,
She plaintively beseeches him to
Clarify why he thinks problems
Need to be solved with violence.
No answers are forthcoming,
She finds out these things aren’t
About logic or fact,
Just a reflection of the
Torment in people’s hearts.
She had a hard time understanding
Where his cruelty came from,
Until she met his family:
An ominous group of harsh
Belittlers who extolled the
Virtues of survival of the fittest,
Mercilessly putting each other down
To prove who was king,
Roughhousing and competition
Behavioral staples – requirements,
Women shown their place in the kitchen,
Encouraged to keep quiet
About important stuff,
Attitudes formed through
Severe indoctrination –
Ubiquitous punishment.
Sure, there was some perfunctory
Level of compassion for people
They knew personally, offset by
A scorching empathy desert
For anyone they considered other,
Which meant pretty much everyone,
Especially foreigners,
Freeloaders and softies.
That’s why she bid him goodbye,
A person of her nature could
Only take so much horror.
He didn’t amass his
Fortune alone, although
He’ll tell you he did,
The sightlessness of
Privilege being what it is,
All he really did was
Be born a certain hue to
A family with the means
To support his endeavors,
A society that was set
Up to favor people like him,
Laws that protected and
Favored his interests while
Keeping down the competition
He claims he loves.
It’s cited as common knowledge
That both sides are the same,
But that’s not actually
True upon even the most
Cursory examination:
One group leaves a trail of
Suffering and devastation for
Everyone but the rich,
The other strives to help the
Most vulnerable, except
When members of their ranks
Emulate their foes.
One of the sides
Works hard to make sure
Nobody knows the truth,
Clearly benefiting from
Misinformation, propaganda,
The opposition’s fecklessness.
Cruelty versus cowardice,
A lethal state of affairs
For the little guy.
