Abundant wealth,
Copious success,
Bountiful opportunities,
Doors open at all turns.
Takes time out of busy schedule,
Attends local governance meetings,
Rails against
Programs for the less fortunate.
Compassion gene missing.
A series of people
Helped him along the way,
Fancies it was all him.
Let’s keep it
The way it’s always been,
Advantage us – scarcity you,
We get all the stuff,
You get meager scraps.
Let’s sit smugly on our porches,
Exchanging phony, chummy banter,
One-upping each other,
Reliving past glories.
Not a trouble-maker in sight,
They’re across the tracks
Where they belong.
Neatly manicured lawns,
Freshly painted homes,
Spurious smiles pasted on
Stiff wax faces,
Underplayed horror stories.
Making unilateral decisions
Based on self-serving,
Intentionally, maliciously
Skewed information without
The slightest bit of
Awareness or concern for
Fact or fairness,
A system that prizes
Conformity, obedience.
Dead faces executing orders,
Unconcerned, unfeeling.
Happy family home,
Place of calm and solace.
Verdant yard where
Small children play,
Exploring a world of
Limitless wonder.
Humble parcel of land
Unanticipatedly becomes
Exponentially more valuable for
What rests below it.
New player in town
Swaggers in – unambiguously
Asserts its presence.
No questions allowed,
Genuflect to the will of
The cold-blooded conglomerate.
Pockets to be filled,
People to dispossess.
Rage, rage against those who
Don’t threaten you in the least
Except for in fabricated tales
Of conspiracy and apocalypse.
Woe the ills of the world while
Championing those who guarantee
Their perpetuation. Pray for better
Days without committing to them.
Rouse all who will listen.
All is not well. Change is
Desperately needed, as long
As it’s someone else.
Banished indefinitely,
Sanctioned suffering.
Bloodthirsty do-gooders
Protecting suspect reputations,
Unhinged egos.
Overzealous pursuit,
Blind lust for retribution,
Information manipulation,
Malfeasance rewarded.
Blackout curtains obscuring
Glaring innocence.
Sleazy scam victimizing
The powerless,
Normalized vengeance.
Shadowy miscreants
Pulling strings from
Perches high atop
The oligarchy.
Narrow gnarled psyches
Bent on grabbing everything,
Leaving everyone else
In tatters.
A world birthed by
Utter greed,
Nothing ever enough,
The wails within
Never satiated,
Smoldering ruins of
Entire civilizations
Left behind.
Fetid stream of
Derogatory remarks,
One foul mouth
Maligning many.
Sullied brain,
Inculcated intolerance,
Grafted onto psyche,
Unbreakable permanent bond.
Legions sympathetic,
Howling viscerally,
Defending the untenable,
Scant of reason.
A rabble roused,
Self-perpetuating,
Clamoring for more
Gratuitous carnage.
Show me how much I matter.
Limit my ability to keep the
Lights on in my home, pay the
Rent. Encourage me to work long
Hours and celebrate holidays on the job.
Tick tock, doesn’t matter when
You’re on the clock. Keep my
Hours below the magic line.
I’m disorganized, overwhelmed, docile.
Tell me that I’m on my own when I fall ill,
Talk up the local public clinic. My new
Stamp collection will keep me and
My children floating in cheese and milk.
Cursed freeloaders impeding the
Extra wing of the seventh mansion,
Four-hundredth shoe. Vacation time forfeited,
You never know who’s in the wings ready to
Take your place.
I hear Saint-Tropez is beautiful this time of year.
