There’s not much
Left to say or do
When people succumb
To a raw lust for power
Over any semblance of
Decency except to
Stand up and oppose
Such reprehensible behavior,
Making sure it doesn’t
Become the new normal and
That generations to come
See there were people who
Cared about humanity.
Automatically given
All the advantages,
Without having done
Anything to earn them,
The comfort of oblivion,
Complacency of right,
It becomes natural to feel
A surge of disdain
Toward lessers who aren’t
Part of your tribe,
Who have the audacity
To want the same things
You’ve always had.
It sounds like a
Wonderful dream,
A place devoid of compassion,
Where no one gets health care,
Persecution for not
Believing certain things
Is acceptable,
Violence rules,
Some people are
More equal than others,
A few own most everything,
Cruelty and callousness
Are celebrated.
It requires no
Wisdom, imagination,
Courage, to do
Something awful
To someone else.
It’s easy to exclude
Others from joining
One’s little game,
Keep their grubby,
Different hands off things.
It’s far more difficult
To let go of fear and
Reach out to people
In need, no matter
Who they are.
On this sweltering
Summer day,
The water discharges
Brown out of the tap,
Laden with all manner
Of contaminants and
Unhealthiness,
Provided to her and
Her family by officials
Who only care about
Giving all the money
To people not like her.
Detached.
Abstract.
As if what he believes
Has no real consequences.
Ignore.
Avoid.
Ramifications
Out of mind.
Pretend.
Suppress.
It takes a particular
Personality to vilify
Another group just
Because it doesn’t
Agree with one’s own
Biases, an entrenched
Fear and mistrust of
Things that are different,
A compulsion to classify
Whole groups of people,
Forcing them into a
Box labeled enemy.
The difference lies
In that they only care
About absolute power.
Collaboration
Doesn’t matter, only
Total domination,
A primal compulsion
To be in control to
Somehow make up for
Feelings of instability
Deep within, not a
Moment’s thought for
Anything other than
Immediate cravings.
Under flimsy guise of
Choice and freedom,
Cavalierly dismantling
Vital programs offering
The less fortunate a
Chance to live a life of
Dignity, perhaps to
Succeed one day.
Turning the clock back to
A darker time when
The many had to fend
For themselves,
At the mercy of
So-called captains,
Two-bit pirates
Raiding the coffers.
