poems about power

Alternate Reality

A thoughtful discussion about
An appalling transgression.
He stands up and offers
A few purposeful words
Reflecting a near-total
Lack of empathy or
Understanding of the
Plight of others.
In his mind,
All wrongdoing is justified
When one utters the words
Personal responsibility.
A collective hushed sigh
From an audience that knows
He doesn’t get it and,
Sadly, never might.
The near impossibility of
Teaching the indoctrinated,
So sure are they of
An alternate reality.

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Something Feels Off

Something feels off,
The way they talk—
Distant, disengaged.
Repositories for dogma,
Inflexible, single-minded.
Defending the cause with
Cold calculation,
Detachment from emotion,
Savage memories repressed.

Legacy

Entrenched legacy of abuse,
Dereliction of decency.
Competitive advantage
Extracted through
Ruthless exploitation of
Human beings.
Contemptible mindset,
Profit at any cost—
By any means.
An entire culture
Established to use people,
Proudly extolled,
Fiercely defended
Misconduct.

Cash Out

The executives shake their heads
In disbelief, puzzling over
Why their profits aren’t
Higher, after all, they
Just raised prices in order
To dispatch more money
To the exalted shareholders who,
No matter how much they make,
Constantly bellyache
About short-term drops
In profits while slyly
Cajoling the stock to go up
So they can cash out before
It plummets disgracefully.
On the way home from work,
At the drive-through window,
A father of three receives
Less food for his family.

Democracy

One family
Has more wealth
Than the bottom
Forty percent of
The population.

Unconstrained upward
Siphoning of resources,
Majority left to
Fight over
Crumbs.

Democracy falters,
Privileged scavengers
Rip the
Carcass of a nation
Apart.

Rationalizations

A dismissive
Defensive rebuttal
Followed by a list of
Inadequate reasons,
Justifications,
Rationalizations.
Outright denial of
Advantage based on
Outward appearance,
A system designed to
Favor certain people
While crushing others.

Crush

Slowly but surely,
Establish uniformity of
Speech, dress, belief.
Heighten nationalism,
Crush dissent,
Persecute intellectuals
Artists, the so-called elite.
Castigate learning,
Mistrust books – except one,
March in lockstep,
Everyone the same,
No one out of line,
On penalty of death.
Coalition of plutocrats and industry,
A pall descends over the land.

Personal Connection

Easy to ignore
Their existence,
Not part of daily
Experience, concerns, routine.
No personal connection.

Perhaps they come into
Occasional view, some
News story about distant
Problems, those people
Doing what they always do.

Unperturbed by mentions of
Strife, decay, struggle.
Walk down the hall,
Well-appointed office,
Comfortable detachment.

One Stroke of a Pen

With one stroke of a pen,
And a clueless
Self-satisfied smile,
He continues his
Sadistic march
Toward making sure
Millions of people
Can’t afford health care.