poems about society

The Enemy

It’s hard to determine
The exact moment when
He lost his sense of hope,
Decided that all that
Mattered was hoarding
As much wealth and power
As possible, building a moat
Around his fragile psyche,
His immediate needs
Superseding everyone else’s.
All that seemed to matter
Was keeping himself and
His own safe at all costs and
With absolutely no consideration
For anyone else, especially
Those he perceives as the enemy.


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Artifice

What it must be like
To wake up every
Morning and know that
You have to defend a
Way of life shrouded
In secrets, untruths,
Misdirection, inauthenticity,
Points of view steeped in
Dissonance. Struggling to
Make things fit that
Were never meant to,
Pretending to be someone
You’re not, not a moment’s
Peace, suffocating artifice.

Assumptions Upturned

Misdirected rage,
Flawed grave reasoning,
Flailing against imaginary
Monsters under beds.

A shift in perspective,
Assumptions upturned,
Unfamiliar changes underway,
Movement misunderstood.

An urge to maintain order,
Preserve pervasive power,
Vehemently opposing kindness,
Collective advancement.

I’m Not a Racist

I’m not a racist but
I just don’t trust
Those people.

They lie.
They cheat.
They steal.

They’re
Not
Like me.

We have
Nothing
In common.

It’s always
Been
This way.

There’s just a
Natural order
To things.

I resent
Your
Insinuations.

This
Conversation
Is over.

Commemorated

Leading tours of his family’s
Plantation, the owner beams
About how beautiful and tidy
Everything is and how
Happy everyone was about
Working there in the past
And what a great family
They have in the present
And what a wonderful time
Is commemorated by the
Whole endeavor, and not for
A moment does he acknowledge
That it was all built on
The backs of enslaved people
And neither do most of his
Guests, the same ones raving
About how magnificent it all is.

Filtering

For the world to be
Whole, beautiful, loving,
We simply need to
Experience it through
The clarity of being healthy
Rather than filtering it
Through our wounded selves.

Practice

Profiting
From war doesn’t
Lead to conciliation.

Bellicose
Words don’t
Invite dialogue.

Suspicion and
Hatred don’t
Bring us together.

Peace
Is
Possible.

We just
Need to
Practice it.

The Crowd Cheers

He stands commandingly at
The podium, gesturing with
Contrived hand motions,
Wearing a creepy, plastered smile,
Confidently proclaiming that
He will take away
Everyone’s health care,
Limit women’s rights,
Deport the immigrants,
And continue his passionate
Pursuit of helping the rich while
Destroying everyone else;
The crowd cheers wildly.

Obliterated

It doesn’t happen
All at once.

A steady erosion of
Humanity, kindness, empathy.

Norms obliterated,
One small, aberrant action at a time.

A desolate
Emptiness remains.

The victors celebrate
Everyone’s destruction.