poems about power

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The retail behemoth’s
Owners scream bloody murder
When it is suggested that
Employees be compensated
Enough to provide meager
Food and shelter for
Their struggling families;
Never mind that any
Pay increase would
Barely dent the vast profits
They suck in every day.
No use paying their
Workers more when they
Can use that money to
Pay off a politician,
Then add a few extra rooms
Onto their fifth giant home.

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Marginalized

Having been bullied
And demeaned by them
His whole life,
He takes his inner
Rage and directs it
Not at the people
Who’ve maltreated him
But rather at those
Who have always
Defended him,
Understood his plight,
Shared his experience.
Seeking approval
From cold conquerors,
Devotedly advocating for
And perpetuating the
Order that always
Has and will continue to
Keep him marginalized.

E-Mail

Not long after
His fortieth birthday,
Robert gets an
E-mail to talk to his
Supervisor where he
Unceremoniously finds out
He no longer has a job.

It is at this moment
That his vehement
Railing against unions,
Tenure, worker’s rights,
Comes into acute focus.
He gathers his things
And walks outside.

Demolish

Rabid zealots
Who quite recently
Would have been
Considered a major
Joke now run the
Institutions charged
With caring for
The entire populace.

With absolute,
Irrational conviction,
They demolish the
Pillars of
Civilized society
And leave in their
Place smoldering
Wreckage and misery.

Wave

They were once
Wealthy and exploited
Their workers with
Unmitigated gusto,
Their status and
Influence unchecked.

Then the bottom
Fell out, their
Joy ride halted
By a tidal wave
Valuing the common man
Instead of the magnate.

They complain bitterly,
Never getting over
The loss of riches
That weren’t theirs
But for the toil
Of the many.

Stake

Regardless of
Steppe or clime,
They band together
Under draconian law.

Subjugating all who
Do not conform to
An archaic, twisted
View of the world.

The suffering
Are always those who
Have no stake in
Perpetuating fear.

Remorse

They
Don’t
Believe
In
Peace,
Only
War.

They
Send
Other
People’s
Children
To
Fight.

They
Feel
Absolutely
No
Remorse,
Just
Profits.

Unmanageable

Standing at the counter
Of the emergency room
Trying to get help
For her ailing husband
Clutching his chest.

It happened suddenly,
He was sent home from
His landscaping job
When the pain had
Become unmanageable.

The paperwork makes
No sense to her,
Her fifth grade daughter
Deciphers as much
As she can.

They hold each other’s
Hands and their
Own breaths,
Waiting for his
Name to be called.

Violation

Outrageous
Injustice,
Plain to see
To everyone but
The transgressors
Who perpetuate
Maltreatment.

Indifferent
To the plight,
Pain, systematic
Violation faced by
People who
Have never had
Another choice.