Unable or unwilling
To understand what
It is like
For a child to
Wake up each morning
Without a home,
Without food,
Without books.
Holding his father’s hand,
He wonders how long it’s
Been since they left home
And how much longer they
Would have to walk through
This arid wasteland, so
Far away from everything.
With the money from
A single bloated military
Contract, they could give
Every woman, child, and man
A million dollars, or rebuild
Our public schools, expand
Health care, develop alternative
Energy, create a jobs program,
But they decide the common good
Doesn’t matter as much as
Fattening the pockets of
Corporations to bursting.
The water-stained
Asbestos ceiling tiles
Tell a tale of a
Community left behind,
Children who
Don’t matter,
A future denied.
Mark sees his wages
Staying the same
Year after year while
Prices for everything
Go up. He feels like
No one is listening
To him, like no one
Cares at all for
People like him.
Pressure building inside,
Seething dissatisfaction,
He follows the first
Person who assures him
Everything will be okay,
The very same character
Who will see to it that
Mark keeps suffering.
He’s reading from the
Manual on how to destroy
A democracy and realizes
That all he really has
To do is manipulate the
Part of the population
That lives in fear,
Hates ambiguity, and
Craves an imposing
Father figure promising
Safety and order while
Eradicating equality.
They see him as
Different,
Not like them,
Foreign.
They treat him
With savage disdain,
Contempt oozing from
Narrowed eyes.
Nothing off limits,
The only goal is
The annihilation of
The intruder.
Subsisting in the remains of
A town built by a
Company that left everyone
Stranded once the resources
Had been recklessly
Exploited, depleted.
A child and its mother
Walk past boarded-up
Windows on their way to
The hall where she,
Her family, friends, neighbors,
Will continue to fight for
This way of life.
