Category: perspective

Gobsmacked

Remaining silhouette
of a leader –
hero was expected –
instead, hit with quirkiness

Unaffected by indifference
accepting his alibis
his ego bloodies
we remain strangers

Ride along
as hive buzzes lies
he sulks at refusals
commands attention

Reputation shredded
still holds appeal
gobsmacked intelligence –
and so it goes on.

(Image my own.)

Life Warp

Perusing the hardware store
(shops are limited these days)
nothing to tantalize the imagination
still, I browse, searching for normalcy.

Death loiters in aisle 9
taunts me with visions of life
once vibrant, now stolen
leers at me and I bolt

Grocery store holds more allure
ingredients to stir the appetite
the phantom stalks here too
leaves fingerprints on tin cans

The coffee shop has drinks to go
but the spectre follows, leers
schoolboy smug – I’m not sure
whether to laugh or cry

Unamused by the implications
and yet somehow reassured –
the humour doesn’t escape me –
warped this new norm.

Current Confusion

Project importance on institutions
confused about what is legitimate

You see, I am worn out,
stunned by reality.

Officials promote chaos
critical thinking a stretch

Anyway, I’m anxious,
almost off the rails.

How do I pull back the strings
that control these emotions

disconnect from the idiocy
allow clarity to guide choices?

(Image from personal collection.)

 

Shallow Measures

Didn’t have to say it –
read between the lines,
the “and you too”
as an afterthought

pathetic attempt to
cover truth – ugly
I was, unlike sisters
whose beauty raved

Only in flashbacks,
time gifting objectivity
do I see it wasn’t true –
depth shines through.

(Image from personal collection.)

Is There An Exit Strategy?

Following political tides –
mesmerized by neglect
of actual issues – playing
to an audience of moaners
(standard consumerist
plights) – glossing over
exploitation of women,
verbal slaughter of race,
religion and social values.

Wondering about media –
who commandeer bias,
swallowing atrocities and
spewing contrived truths,
absent sound voice, or will,
jeopardizing the security
of so many trampled in
the race for what? Surely
not responsibility – what

lapse of conscience has
allowed hateful rhetoric
to bloody progress, no
consequences?  Who will
bear the burden when in
the absence of morality
or respect for humanity,
the margins will increase?

The world quakes at the
failure to acknowledge
this broken path, see only
a devaluation of assets,
perceive a race that did
no more than increase
the monarchy of a king,
grant power to absolve
sins – a sleight-of-hand
trick – nothing to do with
the common habitants –
have so many questions
about how they’ll proceed.

(First penned in November of 2016, I am resubmitting this piece for Reena’s Exploration challenge#120.  Image from personal collection.)