My knotted insides signal a
Debilitating inability to stand up
And let my voice be heard,
To announce my value.
Stop making waves,
Follow the rules.
Nonsense
Rubbed into my brain by
People desperately trying to
Quell entrenched feelings of
Helplessness, unimportance.
Imperious bluster annihilating
Dissidence and love.
Superfluous words of
Instruction, castigation,
Pompously meted out
By the comfortable.
Cavalier imposition
Of distorted morality,
Cruelty promulgated by
Lifeless husks.
An empty plate
Contemptuously
Dropped in front of
The starving.
He makes an offhand
Remark about someone’s race,
Not giving it much thought
And well in keeping with
The rest of his consistently
Intolerant outlook on many
Things, punctuated by a
Self-serving qualification
About how he accepts all people,
And how he’s so moderate,
Civilized, enlightened,
Completely unaware that
The only difference between
Him and the monsters
Is a matter of degree.
All their best brains
Get together: politicians,
Business leaders, pundits,
Economists.
Toiling long hours,
Propelling propaganda,
Presenting a
United front.
It takes all their
Concerted effort to
Find new ways to
Exploit people.
Gleefully retiring
For a well-deserved
Drink at the
Usual establishment.
Tell me about how
That symbol doesn’t
Mean the subjugation
By force of an entire
People, how it has
Nothing to do with
Base, ugly instincts,
A miserable lust to
Break another human being
In order to enrich oneself,
To stand atop the
Inert carcass of an
Animal freshly slain,
To compensate for a
Festering inadequacy.
He plays the part well,
The down-home, good old boy
You could sit down and
Have a beer with and maybe
Chat about how much you
All love the country and
Real people, not those
Miscreants on the coasts.
They vote him in and he
Immediately shows his
True stripes, it’s not
About taking care of the
Small-town guy, it’s about
Showering his wealthy buddies
With lavish gifts,
Taking care of number one.
When his followers start
Catching on a bit,
He simply puts on a hat
And boots and gives a
Patriotic/religious speech
Stressing the importance of
Family and community,
Strength, honor, deceit.
Amongst the chaos and
Tumult, a refreshing
Ideology rears its head
Promising prosperity
For people of many
Persuasions, a shiny
Alternative, not the
Tired old stuff,
Assuring everyone that
Things will be okay and
Taken care of, unlike the
Mess the other guys have
Made, and insisting that
All the populace has to do
Is believe and unconditionally
Submit to the benevolent
Power of the free market.
When all that matters
Is tearing down
A safety net,
Dismantling vital
Institutions,
Installing a regime
That solely serves
The upper echelon,
Then it doesn’t
Mean anything when
They lie about what
Their initiatives
Will really do
To regular people,
How their cuts
Obscenely damage the
Ability of working class
People to thrive,
For democracy to function,
That the real agenda
Is to redistribute the
Wealth to a few
Lewdly engorged despots,
Mansions re-gilded in
Gold many times over.
Humanity-choked street,
Bodies shoulder to shoulder
Hurrying somewhere.
Traffic at a standstill,
Automobiles competing with
Animals and carts.
A small stall
Halfway in the gutter,
Selling sugarcane juice.
Decaying buildings,
Edges smeared
By neglect.
An ancient woman
Sits on the ground,
Hand outstretched.
Smoke, dirt, filth
Permeate the air,
A film of misery.
The hoarders make
Sure nothing
Ever changes.
