As if their circumstances
Were caused by some
Deficiency of character,
Some cultural proclivity
Leading to destitution.
Latent hatred masquerading
As fact, blanket statements
Smothering the light,
Assumptions based on
Equivocation, obfuscation.
Marginalization.
Keeping them in their place,
Where they belong,
Away from us in our
Bastion of cowardice.
Cold indifference
Permeates the minds of legislators
Posing as conviction.
An insidious malady
Steeped in pain, fear, enmity,
Driving compassion away,
Replacing it with punishing policies
Harming hard-working citizens
Whose only mistake is
Lack of power.
Intense suspicion of government
Spawns initiatives
Gutting vital services
Leaving a desolate landscape,
A walled-in mansion surrounded
By a scarred wasteland.
Destitute souls walk aimlessly
Across the bleak landscape
For someone else’s anxieties.
Never having been
In an inferior position,
He pontificates at length
About success, hard work,
Bootstraps, freedom.
Money earned through
Mettle, tenacity, inheritance.
Not a single day of struggle
In his résumé.
Martini swirling in pristine glass.
A study in self-gratification,
Narcissistic dullard,
Seeking validation only for himself,
A broken shell of unfeeling
Smuggery.
Unwanted from the beginning,
Life commencing inauspiciously,
Another number, afterthought,
Second-class citizen.
Relegated to menial status,
Societal constructs,
Hierarchies arbitrarily imposed,
Entrenched oppression.
Prearranged,
Chattel to be
Traded to the
Highest bidder.
In it for what
He can get,
Complicit with
Pocket-lining buddies.
Emotionless
Polished carcass.
Who cares about
The little guy,
Let him fend for himself,
Delusions of
Individualism
Dancing in his head.
They’re furious because of
Being called out for
Reprehensible conduct,
Something they’ve always
Gotten away with,
Never had to think about,
Rudely pushing
Their weight around,
With no repercussions,
Boorish louts behaving
Disrespectfully and
Never paying for it,
Now upset that
Things are changing.
Groomed in a
Culture of
Fervent belief,
Indoctrinated
By fist,
Attaches self
To grimly severe concepts,
Slaking a
Lack of inner power.
Disjointed inside,
Inability to empathize,
Struggle to survive
Primordial,
No other being
Matters.
They design
A world
Based on their personal
Thoughts, feelings, beliefs.
They design
A world where people
Exploit and destroy
Each other.
They could design
A world where people
Think, feel, and believe
In kindness, compassion.
Stunningly unaware,
He tramples over
Everything, everyone,
In his path,
Leaving behind a
Trail of devastation,
Suffering.
Not unusual,
Doesn’t like himself,
Incapable of empathizing with
Anyone else’s plight.
Deeply diseased,
Unable to feel for anyone,
Including himself.
Predictable,
Struggling to feel safe,
The monsters visit constantly,
Recurring, unresolved pain.
Turn inner fear and rage
Into outward contempt,
Cruelty.
