Racism.
The room grows quiet, then defensive, then hostile.
Immaturely unable to face the truth,
Reflect on wrongdoings,
Consider truth and reconciliation.
No change occurs
Without admitting past violations.
A tepid condemnation
Interwoven with further attacks,
Utter lack of decency.
Craven swindlers
Showing their hands,
Driven by the fear that
People who don’t
Look like them and their peers
Will take over and
Make them pay for their
Transgressions,
The dread that keeps all
Illicit conquerors,
Subjugators,
Awake at night.
She lives with the
Husband she feels
She deserves and who
Treats her exactly
As she was treated
In her own family,
An object to be
Possessed,
Controlled,
Suppressed,
Made to be subservient
And cater to the needs of
Someone who believes
He deserves to be waited on
Because that’s what
He saw as a child.
It’s only a matter of degree
Between the negation of contrary ideas
And the elimination of dissidents,
Crossing the line is far too easy
For those who crave only power
At the expense of humanity,
History dismally repeated
With nauseating frequency,
Brooding adolescents yearning
For prestige, authority,
Some feeling of importance
In a realm absent morality,
Where everything feeds
One impotent ego.
They razed another
Section of the old town
To make way for the new
Towers that will house
People far better off
Than his family, which
Has lived there as long as
Anyone can remember.
Not a single question was
Asked or history considered,
An insatiable need for
Space imposes its will
On the former community of
Regular people working
Modest jobs to survive in
Their ancestral homes.
Cowards assembling in groups
Intended to intimidate the
Already voiceless and powerless,
Promoting cruel beliefs
Steeped in fictitious phobias
Arising from profound insecurity,
A grim posse hunting down
It’s next victim,
Anyone who doesn’t conform
To their warped sense of entitlement.
They smile at each other,
Feeling big and strong for this brief moment.
Slaughtering peaceful protesters
To protect a contaminated system
Put in place to protect only
Those who adhere to the party line,
The evening news proclaims
The rioters have been dealt with
And order once again rules.
Harsh oppressors without conscience,
The same story told in
Countless languages,
Appalling violence perpetuated
On the subjugated to appease
The obscene needs of psychopaths.
Shop, shop, everybody shop.
Buy, buy, everybody buy.
Acquire, acquire, acquire
Happiness through attic-filling stuff.
Silent indifferent objects
Slaking unmet needs.
Better, faster, shinier,
Now with more status.
Purchase me, purchase me,
A candle for the darkness.
A warehouse, no windows,
Community center,
Local tire shop,
Family restaurant,
Palm trees, pavement,
Cars rushing past on
Four lanes, a mother tries
To cross the street with
An infant in a stroller,
Walls hiding structures,
Sun glaring off hard surfaces,
A few houses that used to
Be in good shape,
Now subdivided into apartments,
Or single rooms, bars on windows,
A block from the highway,
Many more from the mansions.
