poems about society

Endless Opportunity

After her second shift
Today, she stands in
Line at the grocery
Store, the kind where
No one is buying
Extravagant luxury items,
Just dull, unremarkable
Staples made especially
For people without means
Who have no other choice
But to bear whatever is
Tossed at them, knowing
That endless opportunity
May exist somewhere but
Doesn’t show its face
Around here very often.

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Chuckles

Another opportunity to
Automatically, insistently,
Force his beliefs on someone else,
Unwilling to entertain that
Not everyone shares his zeal,
Or wants to.
Each person he comes into
Contact with presents
A new chance to force
Another heretic to
Conform, genuflect,
Submit to his way of not
Understanding the world.
He chuckles at how
Devoted and pure he is and
How dirty everyone else is.

Just Better

From the depths
Of her being,
She believes that
She and her family,
And a few people who
Are very similar to her,
Are superior,
Having been told this
Since she was a child
By those closest to her.
In her mind,
There’s really no question
To be debated,
Some people are just
Better than others,
Beginning with their genes.

Erosion

Lowest
Common
Denominator.

Appeal
To
Ignorance.

Erosion
Of
Truth.

Authority

He has the authority
To protect people,
It’s his job,
He chooses instead to
Intimidate and terrorize,
A monster working out
Unresolved personal issues on others,
A deep lack of inner security
Manifested in outward bullying,
Craving power and control,
Repaying those who originally
Eviscerated him,
Abusing with impunity.

Giant

Disrupt
Divide
Disorganize
Disorient

Much weaker
Alone
Against
A giant

Confuse
Disarrange
Shuffle
Obliterate

Demeanor

No light emanating
From his eyes,
A rigid demeanor
Developed in childhood
When the glow was
Beat out of him by
People proclaiming virtue
While practicing terror.
Devoid of love,
He coldly leads his adherents
Into the abyss.

Contrived Existence

Systematic destruction
Of self-worth replaced
With rigid decrees for
How to live life,
Zealously, nervously
Monitored, lest there be
Any defections, the
Preservation of the sham
The only goal, an insecure
Stack of lies desperately
Trying to justify its
Contrived existence.

Diet

Their kids grow up
To do horrible things
Because that’s what
They saw the most important
People in their lives do,
There was never going to be
Another outcome,
Neuroses easily transmitted
Through a strict diet
Of authoritarianism
Passed off as love.