She’s talking about
Something very important
To her but it’s clear
All he hears is what
He’s able to assimilate,
Which isn’t that much,
And always seems related
To some strange need to
Protect himself from
Unseen dangers.
I talk with him or,
Perhaps I should say,
He talks at me,
And I immediately
Notice the tightness
In his face, a hardness
That is almost off-putting,
A sense that there is
Some kind of danger of
This person before me
Coming undone and causing
A caustic ruckus.
I wonder how he got
To this place and whether
He’ll ever leave it,
He says something or other
About the moochers.
She’s busy running across
The oversize rooms of
Their dream mansion,
Yet another party,
Yelling orders at the caterer,
Making sure the help’s uniforms
Look perfect, fretting about
The giant flower arrangements
On various tables, eager to
Show-off everything she owns,
All her stuff, all that she is.
All these years
Thinking things were
A certain way,
Only to find that
He was completely mistaken.
Novel insights
Brought about by years of
Self-examination,
Concerted shift in
Thinking over time.
Swirling feelings of
Loss and anger,
Relief and hope,
New opportunities unhampered
By obsolete patterns.
Look at me, look at me.
I want to be seen, I want to be seen.
Here’s my cat, here’s my cat.
I’m drinking coffee, I’m drinking coffee.
I’m so down, I’m so down.
I’m so up, I’m so up.
Message me, message me.
Talk to me, talk to me.
Are you there? Are you there?
I’m here, I’m here.
Look at me, look at me.
How easily he forgets
That success is very often
Not the result of pluck,
Or toil, or self-determination.
Talking to a group of colleagues
In an opulent board room,
The grind of the outside world
Doesn’t show its gnarled face.
Smug in their affluence,
Brash movers and shakers,
Out on the streets but
For the whim of fortune.
Deposit your hard-earned
Money with us,
We’ll take care of you.
By the way,
There’s a minimum balance
Required to keep your account open.
There’s a fee
If you dip below the balance
At any time, for any reason.
We should mention that
There’s a charge
For using your debit card.
Oh, there’s also a
Fee if you use the ATM
More than a couple of times.
Rest assured, we’ll make sure to wait
To deposit your funds to increase
The chance of overdrafts.
We love to charge you
To use your money
To enrich ourselves.
Thank you for
Banking with us,
We appreciate your business.
A vocal minority
Works tirelessly
To eradicate
Compassion
Empathy
Kindness
Community
From the lexicon.
Decisions made
By militant
Misanthropes
Affecting
Millions
Who value
Caring for
Others.
A radio show host
Poses a question about
Whether we are
Being taxed
Too much.
One caller says that
He works hard for
What he’s got and
Why should he give it
To someone else.
Another caller says
We’re all in it
Together and why
Not help one
Another.
Dramatically divergent
Worldviews.
One lifts all boats,
One sinks them,
Different outcomes.
