Tag: Social Commentary

A World of Words

On By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment 
When you live, solely, in a world of words,
 imagination loses its grounding,
 and truth becomes ulcerous.

Words are things, but they are not the same
 as the things they are meant to signify;
 just as saying, "I will pay you back on time"
 doesn't mean that we will.

So whatever we think we know strictly from words
 should come with this caution:
 hearsay is unreliable, as is readwrote.

Truth is not a monopoly; no mortal --
 or group of mortals -- has
 sufficient experience to own it,
 no matter what they tell you.

spiraling, again

On By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment 
 the world is full of hatred 
 and people lined in rows 
 to tear apart all others 
(and that's just how it goes) 

 and oh how great we think we are 
(with such thoughts we are filled) 
 we're not like those subhumans  
 who we have lately killed 

 oh evil evil everywhere 
 to fight it's so inviting --  
(we dreamt of beauty once and calm 
 but how is *that* exciting?) 

 the rage of those denying 
 that they have any part 
 of all our modern rancor 
 can kind of break the heart 

 the spiraling of violence 
 the echo coming back 
 the one more day of mourning 
 and then the

 fade to black

men are meant to break

On By Beleaguered ServantIn Original Poems3 Comments 
men are meant to break, and so we break them, 
a practice crossing time, and place, and caste; 
men are meant to die, and so we kill them, 
they're built for moments, violence, not to last 

boys are born destructive, angry, reckless, 
and this we can exploit, increasing yields --  
men are meant to break, and so we break them, 
on streets, in jails, at jobs, on 

battlefields

The Default Setting

On By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment 
If your default is disrespect, 
Then pause a moment to reflect 
If you're of such a caliber 
To be a moral arbiter

Or if, perhaps, you are a mix
Of some things good with stuff to fix 
And as such, show ability
To speak with more 

Humility

{ the Only view }

On By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment 
People will try to tell you 
 what it is you really mean; 
Their viewpoint, one of privilege, 
 that you can't contravene -- 

But that is just polemics, we 
 can't fall for all that stuff: 
For we know what we are, and felt, 
 and that should be 

 enough

my job

On By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment 
my job is to plant assumptions 
 so you won't stop to think 
  if everything chemical is good 
   that i've put in your drink -- 

   my job is to huddle masses 
  in cultivated rows,
 maintaining the life that's all of me
consuming

all of those

slowly freezing

On By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment 
the power is the order, 
the order is the way; 
the way is steep and icier 
than mere words can portray,  

but such we hear are freezing out 
all love or thought or doubt -- 
the power is the order, 
and you are in 

or out

Non-Conversations

On By Beleaguered ServantIn Original Poems1 Comment 
At home, with his soliloquies,
His fantasies, his memories,
His thoughts about disparities,
The youth he’s seen destroyed —

He struggles to find meaning in
The flow he’s intervening in
By screening in, and leaning in
And typing to the void —

For what is self-esteem but this?
To find and hit what seems amiss,
But miss the inside ludicrous 
The unity deranged

A world no longer recognized,
Just shadow-strangers, all despised,
Not knowing, with hope fossilized,
That he’s the one

Who changed

You Are Your Phone

On By Beleaguered ServantIn Original Poems2 Comments 
You are your phone.

You are the people in those pictures,
 the words in all those messages.

You are those likes, those comments,
 all those videos you watch --

Your life is spent in all that time,
 all those hours, scrolling,
 arguing, wondering, positioning --

Phones are times made solid,
 and solid things made into energy.

They are where you've been, 
 and where you're going.

Your phone is more loyal than your dog,
 and more whimsical than your cat;
You trust your phone more than your family,
 and look at it more than your spouse, or children.

You are your phone, each micro-piece placed
 where the engineers wanted it, helping you achieve
 your goals, by achieving

 theirs