poems about power

Blocking

Gradual progression
Toward greater humanity,
Compassion, kept from
Developing by a fiercely
Determined subset who
Resist any change,
All change,
In any form,
For any reason,
In perpetuity.
Blocking every attempt
To make the world a
Softer place that
Takes care of
Its inhabitants.
Chanting twisted slogans,
Dog eat dog,
Survival of the fittest,
Self-sufficiency,
Rallying cries of
The self-interested.

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Shell

His life
Expendable,
Skin color
Being a determinant
Factor in assessing
The lack of value of a
Human being.

Death sentence
Delivered by a shell of
A person,
Images of his father
Shouting at him
Playing on a never-ending
Loop in his head.

Shrug it off,
Fabricate some middle school
Quality explanation of
What happened,
Those predisposed will
Buy it, he did what
He had to do.

Nonchalantly

Standing before him,
The height differential
Remarkable,
One clearly above
The other,
As it’s always been.

Intentionally setting
People apart so that
One side has no idea
What the other
Feels, thinks,
Endures.

Smug self-righteousness,
Smoldering revulsion,
An opportunity for mercy
Squandered,
Order preserved,
Nonchalantly caged.

Talking Head

Ubiquitous talking head
Flaps his crooked mouth about
Character and poverty.

Finding yourself poor
Is a personal flaw caused
By the luck of the draw.

Lazy analysis of
Complex issues,
Ignoring obvious data.

Born with no opportunities,
Higher likelihood
You’ll stay there.

Dream

A young woman approaches him and
Voices her concerns which,
As usual, mean nothing
To him, after all, she’s
From the other camp.

He condescendingly lectures her
On right and wrong,
His moral code trumping all others,
Invalidating anyone who
Isn’t like him.

He tells her to listen but
Doesn’t extend the same courtesy,
Patriarchal dominance.
Without a hint of understanding,
He kills another dream.

Juveniles

Petulant children
Who lacked something
Or were given everything
Except scruples
Walk the halls
Scheming, machinating
Their next step to
Best someone else,
Destroy an adversary,
Twist a truth,
Pervert decency.
And for what?
Money,
Power,
That unresolved issue
That haunts them at
Night but never goes away
Because they don’t have
The courage to fix it.
Perpetuation of turmoil
By broken juveniles.

The Free Market

The true believers
Writhe ecstatically,
Chanting the free market
Mantra of magical
Companies taking care of
All of society’s ills.
What could be more equitable
Than allowing money-making entities
To run unfettered by pesky rules
That protect people from abuse?

Everything shall be provided,
Invisible hands will appear and
Make all necessary adjustments.
They smile contentedly as they
Watch their two-hundred dollar
A month cable and call their
Friends on two-hundred dollar
A month phones from providers
That don’t have a care in the world,
Least of all competition.

Hurt

Champions of intolerance,
Waving a flag,
Holding a cross,
Extolling the absolute virtues
Of their constricted mindset,
Gather in agitated herds,
Facing outward to defend
Against the barbarians
Who don’t share their
Antiquated, reactionary
Perception of a world
Full of scary things,
Like people who don’t
Worship narrow-mindedness,
Ignorance, hatred.
The world continues to scream
For a generation of human beings
Who believe in love
Rather than hurt.

Inside

Something’s missing inside him.
Perhaps it’s that his father
Rarely spent time with him,
Or his mother was demanding.
In any case, he wanders through
Life hiding a painful ulcer,
A part of him that never heals.

In every one of his companies
His employees suffer the consequences of
How he was treated as a child.
They toil long hours for little pay,
With no benefits or future,
Enabling him to buy the toys
That will never bring him joy.