She lifts up another
Necessity —
Winces resignedly —
Places it in the cart
Alongside all the other
Downsized,
Exhaustively engineered
Staples.
Stopping by the
Gas station —
Sigh of forced
Compliance —
Involuntary participant in
Rigged games,
Nickel and dimed
To extinction.
Eyes slowly, calmly fluttering open,
Deep breaths of still, clean
Morning air on the veranda,
A thoughtfully prepared cup of coffee.
Contentedly enjoying the greenery
In a soft inviting chair.
A restorative peaceful moment,
The comforting warmth of
Everything going well.
Then, sudden, absolute, total
Nothingness.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In times of encroaching
Authoritarianism,
One of the only safeguards
We have to protect democracy
Is the fourth estate,
Unless it too is compromised
By corporate interests or
Takes the form of
Partisan propaganda masquerading
As news in order to perpetuate
A one-sided brutal agenda
Portending calamity.
He’s the kind of person
Who has no problem
Lying to get what he wants,
Creating simple-minded
Diversions that
Hide the truth about
His wretched actions,
A closed, damaged creature
Lashing out at specters,
Enemies around every corner,
Oppression his only tool,
Get them before they get you.
These are people of
Great self-described
Sobriety and moral character,
Virtue and uprightness,
Ready at any moment
To impose their insecurities
On others and limit
The rights of anyone
They deem to be lesser,
Today it’s women,
Just so they can
Feel better about themselves
For a moment.
