I’m poet Guy Farmer and I love writing dark poems about human folly, from the petty to the galling and reprehensible.
I love connecting with professionals who enjoy dark poetry about human folly.
Emotional, raw, and deeply personal, ‘Unconventional Being’ is a powerful poetry collection about human darkness and folly.
So dead inside that
They don’t feel a thing
When making decisions
That hurt other human beings,
Moving forward with
Cold calculation,
Devoid of compassion.
Covered in
Restrictive,
Antiquated,
Uncomfortable garb,
Long hair
Archaically styled,
Pioneer women without
The freedom to explore,
Idealized, submissive
Feminine appearance.
Stay close to the hearth,
With your multiple offspring,
Do as you’re told by
Your male master.
Walking anachronisms
Controlled from all angles
By abusive hustlers
Waving morality banners.
Trying to avoid doing
Something that really
Needs to be done,
An uncomfortable itch
That doesn’t go away.
Busying oneself with
Distractions,
Reminders unabating,
Relentless in their
Power to unsettle,
Unstoppable until
Properly addressed.
They’ve been given
Permission to be as
Loutish as they want,
Belittling anyone who
Doesn’t agree with them,
Gaining validation from
Someone with no restraint,
Who doesn’t care for
Anyone but himself.
Under a
Perpetual
Poisonous
Smog cloud,
He walks along
A filthy street,
Engulfed by
Row upon row
Of blank,
Faceless,
Forbidding
Cloned buildings
Teeming with families
Dislocated by
Unstoppable forces,
A concrete corridor
Of imposed
Existence.
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.
It’s as if
They’ve lost
The ability to
Feel anything,
Empathy replaced
By a grim,
Cold numbness.
Only the victors matter.
If you don’t win
You’re a loser.
Expendable,
Ignorable,
Worthless.
You either
Make it or
You don’t.
It’s up to you.
We’ll make sure
You get no help.
Formidable castles
Surrounded by
Afterthoughts.
The impulse to
Help someone in need,
To assist a fellow
Human being who is suffering,
A trait we all possess
In our hearts because we know
Deep inside that we
Might be there too but
For fickle chance.
The ability to feel
Someone else’s pain
And respond with kindness
Is in every one of us.
A moment of unexpected,
Irrational fear,
Fleeing from a predator
Where there is none,
Subconscious poison
Introduced long ago,
A passing observation,
Furrowed brow,
Explicit statement,
Unanticipated display
Followed by shame,
Though not in some,
Which is why it
Persists.
Please stop telling me
Who I am, what I need
To be doing, and how
I should do it.
Those decisions are best
Left to me, the person
Most affected by purposelessly
Following well-meaning but
Entirely ill-suited advice;
I’ll fare much better when
You let me find my own answers.
The group walks
Into the room,
Apprehensive faces,
Some bored.
They’ve learned that
These workshops are
Often a frustrating
Waste of time,
Nothing ventured,
Nothing learned.
Today, one at a time,
They look at a
Fellow co-worker,
And say something kind.
They thought the move
Would resolve everything,
That their lives would
Shift in some wondrous
Direction, all problems
Left behind, entrenched
Patterns eradicated,
Complete transformation through
A simple change of scenery.
It never had before,
History being what it is,
Past behavior a reliable
Predictor of the future.
A ruler non-pareil,
A visionary of
Exceptional brilliance,
A seer who will
Steer us into a
Brighter tomorrow,
On the wings of
Freedom and individuality.
A true prophet
Who will guide us
Through the turbulence
With unwavering valor.
His mighty plan is upon us,
His genius plain to see:
Demolish programs for the poor,
Destroy unions,
Obliterate government.
Kindness ends war.
How do I know?
Think of all the
Things that cause conflict:
Fear, greed, jealousy,
Lust for power,
Competition,
Unfilled holes,
Misunderstandings,
Unresolved issues,
Hurt feelings,
Pride, ego,
Inner brokenness,
Insecurity,
Pain from the past;
None of those things
Has anything remotely
To do with being kind.
Imagine a world where
People heal themselves,
Let go of all
The awfulness,
Learn how to love.
It’s possible;
We just need to
Practice kindness.
Walking down the street,
Looking at the
Faces of strangers,
He doesn’t feel fear,
But rather senses
Their shared humanity.
He smiles at them,
A gesture of kindness
Toward another person
Who needs to be treated with
Love and gentleness,
As we all do.
He remembers when,
As a child,
He defended a
Girl from another country
When a classmate
Said cruel things to her.
His parents had always told him that
Everyone is important and that
Superficial differences don’t matter,
That one should
Treat people with kindness
Regardless of where they are from
Or what they look like.
Many years later,
He still lets his voice be heard
Whenever and wherever
He sees someone
Being put down or marginalized
Just because someone else
Needs to feel bigger;
A kind person
Speaking out against harshness.
Instead of
Fear
He chose
Courage,
Instead of
Hatred
He chose
Love,
Instead of
Animosity
He chose
Kindness,
Hopeful
Choices
For him and
The world.
Light doesn’t get in here,
Only an unsettling dullness
Feeding unconsciousness.
Judgments arrived at
Through thoughtlessness,
Ferocious fear.
Enlightenment derided,
Hurt the only
Acceptable currency.
Another reflexive reaction
To imaginary threats,
Absence of love.
Everything is going along
Much as it always has,
Until something changes.
Whether due to an accumulation
Of slights over time,
A single major event,
Or increase of self-esteem,
The relationship shifts,
Moving in a new, less intimate
Direction, trust depleted,
Superficiality followed by
Disengagement, one party
Expanding, the other static,
Continuing separately.
He’s unable to be impartial,
Too many things churning inside,
Slabs of unresolved mayhem,
Monsters screaming at him
About how worthless he is,
Misshapen ego craving
Absolute power and control.
Having internalized the messages,
He fulfills the prophecy by
Relentlessly punishing others,
Oozing misdirected self-satisfaction,
Unable to be anything
But what he was told he is,
Perpetrator of injustice.
It’s been hard
These last few years,
Not much to celebrate.
She walks down the
Icy street, careful
Not to slip.
The frigid wind
Penetrates her coat,
Increasing her discomfort.
When will things change?
She wonders,
The same struggle day after day.
Approaching a homeless person,
She offers a five-dollar bill
And a smile.
They all say
It doesn’t matter,
Nonchalance covering for
Ambiguity, confusion, fear.
In moments
Away from the crowd,
They know there is
Something else.
For now, they avoid it,
Hoping it will resolve itself,
Much easier than
Having to think about it.
Each day passes,
And with it the opportunity
To acknowledge
What’s missing.
Not a moment’s peace for her,
A self-imposed trajectory
Unimpeded by introspection or
Even the faintest understanding
That maybe things
Could be different.
She’s become so used to
This particular routine,
Refusing to consider any other,
Shallow depth of field,
Never seeing the horizon.
Daunting but necessary,
Sometimes things need
To be shaken up,
Moved from where they
Have been all this time,
Gathering dust,
Helping no one do anything
But remain in place,
Atrophying,
Wondering what happened,
Not doing anything
About it.
Heightened expectations,
Consistent disillusion
Exacerbated by impatience.
Waiting becomes a familiar,
Unwanted companion.
So many other things to
Be done, dreams to be
Fulfilled, moments of joy,
Return to calmness.
An easy way
To destroy democracy:
Pretend that all
Points of view are
Equivalent,
No matter how false,
Misguided, or hurtful.
Make sure all the
Voices that want to
Build a kinder world
For everyone are
Lumped in with the ones
Seduced by fear,
Cruelty, and lust for power.
Make believe
All ideas have equal merit,
Until facts don’t matter
And we lose our sense of
The greater good.
Enamored with positions of
Supposed authority,
Constantly fixated on
Self-preservation,
Uneasy, imbalanced, suspicious,
Routinely unenlightened,
Limiting growth,
Punishing change,
Loathing insight,
Enabling dysfunction,
Shunning anyone who
Doesn’t fall in line,
Ordinariness covering for itself.
Parts of me,
My history,
Strewn about in
Different places,
Unrecognized by
Anyone else,
Fragments of a
Bygone time,
Vivid in my mind only.
A heavy sigh,
How it all passes.
He goes off on yet
Another long-winded and
Excruciatingly boring commentary
On some topic he thinks
Makes him appear erudite but
Is really just another
Desperate attempt to be
More important than others,
Trying to overcome the
Voices of disapproval that
Won’t leave him alone
No matter what his title.