Light waning
Over the water,
Small waves quietly
Washing over pebbles,
Screaming at the
Injustice,
The trees listen.
Having been terribly hurt
Early in his life
By people he trusted,
He flailed through each day with
Selfishness and cruelty,
Ridiculing empathy,
Celebrating harshness,
Repeating the pattern.
One sleepless night,
It became clear to him
That he was trying
To get back at those who
Had injured him,
Destroying himself and
Everyone else in the process.
It dawned on him that
He was only continuing the misery and
Resolved at that very moment to
Live with kindness,
Leaving behind all the pain,
Healing himself and the world.
As a child, she had to
Fight for what was hers,
Struggle against the
Feeling that she was being
Judged or wasn’t good
Enough in some way, that
She wasn’t really loved
Or accepted, didn’t matter.
Not so many years later,
She became externally
Successful, with all the
Trimmings and trappings,
But inwardly vowed to
Never again let anyone
Tell her what to do, she’d
Strike first and show them
Who was boss, she’d be in
Control all the time, a
Sullen emperor staring down
From her tarnished throne,
Giving the signal to
Sacrifice yet another
Miserable underling to quench
Her thirst for dominance.
It’s in the quiet spaces
Between words that he remembers
What he was and how it all
Led to this moment, whether
He wanted it to or not,
Without any semblance of order
Save for every single experience,
Every instance of gushing pain,
Pulsating regret, momentary joy,
And the evolving realization
That he was never whom they
Said he was, or whom he had
Convinced himself to be.
They clap gleefully
As the child dances —
A forced smile pasted
On his face,
Flailing wildly to
Keep their attention,
The only time they
Notice him.
Although he never
Noticed it himself,
It was clear
To everyone else
That he was strikingly
Adept at making the
Important people in
His life feel horrible.
No error too small
To point out,
No advantage too
Preposterous to duel for.
A hug withheld,
A judgment rendered,
The subliminal erosion of
An already fragile self.
Constant, insistent perseverance
In the face of crushing odds,
Head down in defiant opposition to
Forces that contort dreams.
One laborious step after another,
Unfailing determination and
Purity of purpose align.
Things predestined appear.
Same hierarchy imposed,
People standing
In rancid cliques pretending
To feel comfortable
In their own skins.
Reliving past triumphs
And the rush that came
From disparaging others,
Walking by with a nose
In the air, punch on the arm.
Years later,
Glory days still fondly
Revisited by husks
Too broken to rewire
The obsolete mess.
I tried to explain
Over and over but
He wouldn’t listen.
No matter how little
He really knew about
The situation,
He still heard
Only his own voice,
He always knows better.
