He assures him that
His infant son with
A congenital heart
Condition will not
Want for affordable
Medical care –
Nor will any other child
Regardless of means –
All while scheming
To deny care to everyone
But the wealthy;
A so-called doctor
Working hard to
Do harm.
The statue was
Put up there to
Remind people of
Their place,
Glorifying a
Sordid history of
Degrading human beings
For profit while
Feigning civility
And decorum.
It’s clear what
Is being said here.
In this one corner
You’ll find works of
Great beauty and depth,
Evoking wonder,
Recounting tales of
Places visited,
Feelings felt,
Life lived.
Ask the artist a question,
There is a lot to be learned
About humanity here,
Knowledge earned through
Experience, vulnerability,
Courage, bliss.
If you’ve grown up with a
Certain set of advantages
It’s natural to not be aware of them,
After all, they were always there,
You could just enjoy what they
Did for you without worrying about why,
Or whether it was fair or not that
They weren’t available to others.
For your fellow human beings
Without those advantages,
The world is a very different place,
One where they may not have access to
The things you did, where they have
To work more to succeed less or
Live under an intractable cloud
Threatening to wash away their dreams.
For those in shadow,
The light looks very different.
They get up each day
And do whatever it takes
To maintain the status quo,
Keep everything as stable
As possible, avoid
Anything resembling courage,
Eschewing authenticity
In favor of familiarity,
Comfort, sameness,
Just trying to make it
Moment to moment,
An ordinary existence,
Devoid of passion.
Now softened by
The filter of time and
Short attention spans,
They trot him out
To make small talk,
Fawning over how
Friendly he appears,
Forgetting that this
Is the monster
Born of privilege that
Did so many cruel things
To vulnerable people,
Pandering to the worst
Elements in our society,
Setting the stage for
Where we are today,
A swaggering fraud,
Insecure to the core.
Something must have
Happened to close his mind,
Rendering him unable to
Understand suffering.
Innocence and hope
Dashed at a vulnerable age,
When life should
Be rosy.
A heart drained of its
Ability to feel,
Vitriol replacing
Kindness.
Doing nothing at all
And still enjoying
Each other’s company.
Thoughtful conversations
Imbued with empathy,
Listening, depth.
Silly jokes
About anything
And everything.
The lone frontiersman
Who lives by his
Sheer grit and determination,
Fending for himself
Against all odds,
Not beholden to anyone,
A rugged individualist
Who kowtows to no one,
Takes care of himself
And his own and never
Asks for outside help,
An outdated construct
Invoked to undermine
Social conscience,
The greater good,
Civilized society.
