As children, we
Like to play with
Dolls or action figures –
Or both —

As adults, then, we have a tendency
To want to spend our time in
Similar endeavors.

One type of person plays the game
Using actual living people;
Spraying the world with unsolicited advice,
Unsought for ‘expertise’,
Attempts at sexual or social domination, or even
Aspirations to rule peoples

The other type constructs fantasies that
Are recognized as such;
Fictional worlds where they’re in charge
Of everything,
From the relative benignity of
Constructing their own stories to
More pernicious power fantasies that
Border on the first category of person, above

We’ve all observed, and often, that
Those who most want to control others
Frequently lack control over themselves or their own lives,
And the irony of that seems to escape
The people involved

Like an overweight diet expert, or

A faith-healer with a limp