All he’s ever done
Is impose his will
On others,
Trample on their peace
And well-being,
Infringe upon their
Comfort,
Do whatever he wants,
When he wants to.
He doesn’t care
Very much about the
Obscene piles of
Cash the bankers
Made off with,
Leaving behind the
Worst financial cataclysm
Since The Great Depression.
He prefers to focus
His self-righteous ire
On the hapless bystanders
Pitilessly ruined by
The conscious malfeasance
Of financial criminals,
Now forced to queue up
At the food bank.
They come in the
Middle of the night,
Unannounced,
Uninvited,
To pay a harrowing
Kind of visit where
The host disappears
For as long
As necessary to send
A clear and unequivocal
Message that dissent
Is not tolerated and
That there will be
No protesting against
Any of the glorious
Policies which have
Brought everyone
To this point.
Let’s go back
To those heady days
When we could own
People as property
And not pay them
For their labor.
Let’s work them
Until they drop,
Night and day,
As we become
Increasingly wealthier
At their expense.
Let’s close our eyes
To their suffering,
Supplications for mercy
Falling upon hardened
Hearts unable to feel.
As we sip mint juleps
At a garden party,
Lets pretend there’s
No other way to
Do things.
His forebears fought
Mill owners for
Some modest bit of
Dignity at work.
Not so many years later,
He ascends to the
Pinnacle of his profession,
The highest seat of power.
He takes the hard-fought
Lessons of the past and
Ruthlessly maims them,
Juris without prudence.
A snide retort and sneer
All that remain of
A legacy of struggle
For fairness.
Single-minded, limited,
Inflexible, unyielding
Perspective, unwavering,
Unchanging, ungenerous.
Closed-fisted myopia
Fed by runaway fear.
A history of pain
Repeats itself.
It takes a great deal of
Cowardice to hate another
Human being, vulnerability
And love being far better
Measures of courage, a
Certainty discovered late,
If at all, by so many
People who live in fear.
Work eagerly so we can
Pay you less.
Work efficiently so we can
Cut other jobs.
Work reliably so we can
Ask you for more.
Work energetically so we can
Make more money.
Work dejectedly so we can
Erase benefits.
Work loyally so we can
Leave you hanging.
Work unorganized so we can
Do what we want.
How easy it is
To sit in overstuffed chairs,
Impugning the character
Of people who have no power,
Live on the fringes of society,
Toil in menial jobs while
Making life easier for
Their assailants.
Subsisting in the shadows,
Unseen by most,
Routinely disparaged but
Whose fruits are consumed
Without reservation.
No effort required
To kick the defenseless.
