It’ll hurt business
To help the poor,
To raise the minimum wage,
To remove the glass ceiling,
To regulate pollution.
Opposing humanity,
Communities of one.
Complete domination,
Uncontrolled predation
The only objective.
Imperious children
Bawling self-indulgently,
Pleading for pity,
Encircled by
Human wreckage.
A series of crises jolt frail,
Susceptible minds into visceral fear.
Whom to blame, someone, anyone.
Single out the weakest,
Attach despective labels.
Rail against fabricated enemies of
Crumbling state of mind.
Revel in the reassuring words of
Mendacious itinerant salesmen,
Venal opportunists promising to
Protect you from your
Recurring, misplaced nightmare and
Restore order.
Outside a warehouse building
In a tattered part of town,
They line up waiting for
Their bags of food,
Children in tow.
A year ago they would have
Laughed at the idea that
They’d be here with
All the people they
Used to ridicule.
Now they’re part of it,
But looking forward to the
Day when they can go back
To exactly who they
Were before.
Sitting in an air-conditioned office,
Pressed suit, expensive watch,
Latest eyeglass frames,
Perusing the Internet
On an advanced computer.
This morning he drove
From his plush apartment
On a swanky street
Where doormen greet residents
And keep the riffraff out.
Exiting the building for lunch,
He talks animatedly to
His cronies about
His latest theory on
Winners and losers.
He’s a generally caring guy,
Has even been known to do
Kind things for people whom
He doesn’t even know.
He’s got a steady moral compass,
Treats people the way
He would like to be treated,
And smiles at others on the street.
The veneer of civility starts
Cracking whenever something happens
That arouses latent passions,
Hidden presumptions.
Rapid metamorphosis
From mild and affable
To unfeeling, unforgiving,
His true self awakened.
He possesses
Little wealth,
But an overabundance
Of zeal and
Energy which he
Avidly channels into
Advocating against causes
That help the poor,
The disenfranchised,
The vulnerable;
Deriving great satisfaction
From depriving children
Of a meal, a bed,
Human dignity.
“Takers,”
He hisses as he
Deposits his
Disability check.
With the illegal
Installation of
The regime came
An unrelenting
Wave of avarice
That destroyed
Everything
In its path.
A vicious gutting
Of the middle class
With extreme prejudice.
There’s a hierarchy
That needs to be
Preserved here.
Infected mantra,
Regardless of
The situation,
Money matters
More than people.
Continuous loop of
Intentional untruths,
Slickly packaged
Obfuscation.
Constant stream of
Hatred, bigotry.
Extreme bias peddled
As normal.
A slow poisoning
Of the environment,
Progress grinding
To a standstill.
Smug, detached,
Filth-spewing mannequins,
Their masters
Absconding with the money.
August chambers
Populated by zombies
Driven by their
Lust for power.
Decisions motivated
Not by compassion
Or principle, but by
Opportunism and greed.
When the only goal
Is retention of power,
The natural outcome is
Mediocrity and dysfunction.
