short deep poems

A Country That Lost Its Way

Allow me to tell
You a lovely little story
About a country that
Lost its way because it
Believed in hatred and
Division rather than
The common good and love.
It’s the tale of every
Civilization that has
Come crashing down while
Shrugging its shoulders
And wondering why it
Happened, human beings utterly
Convinced that competition
And conflict are more important
Than helping one another succeed,
People who don’t understand
We’re all in this together.

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The Diversion

Told he should not
Feel anything,
That he needs to
Push it down until
He, supposedly,
Can barely remember,
Erase it with some
Type of substance or
Surrogate behavior,
Chaotic flashes of a
Past best left behind
But never far away,
No matter what
The diversion.

Straightforward Task

It can’t just be easy,
I guess,
Everything appears to have
The distinct tendency to
Become annoyingly complicated
Instead of pleasantly simple,
Developing into ever more
Complex convolutions of
Contortions engendering
Unnecessary grief and
Consternation rather than
Peace and calm,
A straightforward task
No longer,
Realization elusive.

Collective Conscience

A group of people
Living in peace and harmony,
Supporting each other for
The common good.

One person emerges
Who craves a larger slice of
The pie for himself,
To fill a hole.

Balance interrupted,
Collaboration obstructed,
A test of their
Collective conscience.

The Urge

He doesn’t like or
Understand himself,
So he imposes his will
On others in order to
Temporary placate
Whatever noise is going on
In his head, the urge to
Soothe the inner discomfort
Greater than anything else,
A stunning inability to
See anything beyond his
Own itching needs.

As If

I look at the words
But they don’t elicit any
Kind of memory,
As if it all had
Never happened.

Once Again

Once again,
He does something that
Turns his world completely
Upside down, and not in a
Good way, forcing him to
Do much more work than he
Would have had he paid
Just a little more attention
At the very beginning of
The whole endeavor.

Enjoy the View

Please stand perfectly still as
I do my rehearsed dance.
I will not take no for an
Answer. Enjoy the view and
My amazing dancing style.
I’m looking good, huh?
You know you love spending
Time with me.
It’s great to be able to hang out with
Someone as wonderful as me.
I know you enjoy watching me
Kiss my muscles.
I wrote this song. Not really but it’s
The type of song I’d write.
Let’s get out of here and go back
To my place.
Yeah, my mom’s house.

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.