Trying to find some
Semblance of feeling
Behind those lifeless eyes,
But there isn’t any,
Extinguished by some
Authority figure who
Taught him that
The world is a
Very hard place and
That he should
Be harder.
They hope you won’t
Notice everything
They’re taking away,
How they’re obliterating
Compassion and decency,
Leaving behind a charred
Dystopia with a few obscenely
Affluent creatures reveling in
Manicured enclaves
Surrounded by monstrous gates.
Waking up with yet another ache,
Making coffee,
Looking at the trees,
Wondering how many more days are left
And what happens after it all.
A breeze makes its appearance,
Proof that all is in motion,
Nothing ever stands still.
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.
They went out today,
A now-infrequent splurge,
Can’t do it as much
Anymore, prices have
Gone up by at least
fifty percent, what
Used to be absorbable
Is now much more draining,
A larger percentage of
Non-increasing wages
Taking away from necessities
While the powers that be
Dine without worries.
It doesn’t really
Matter to them
What they say or do
As long as it forces
The desired result,
Kindness and compassion
Are not even part of
The deliberative process,
Only calculations to
Grab and retain power.
The world is the way
It is because certain
People endow themselves
With the power to decide
How everything is structured,
And they predictably
Stack the deck to make sure
Only a chosen few at the top
Are well taken care of
While everyone else has to
Fight for the scraps while
Extolling the virtues of
Those who hold the strings.
