Society’s Pain

“Lost Child” by mjr

pain is
pandemic
among young
defectively
loved mere
annoyances
coolly dismissed
ignored brushed
aside so much
chaff in the
smug adult
self-possessed
winds of failed
models each
child left to
navigate
fate’s harsh
vicissitudes
only to land
in some
mordant
dark place
where pain
grows into
anger matures
into hatred
inflicting
a rippling
broader
ranged pain
on us all

love the child
tend his needs
spare her pain
save the world
or else
stand as
accountable
owning the
consequence
but if you
can’t or you
won’t concede
guilt then at
least have the
courage to weep
for the loss
of a child
gone astray
for the wound
it creates in
the skin of
humanity

Bonefish

“Cheating” by Anya Dunaif

(Originally posted here June 2013)

some men live for the cast
exult in the silvery catch
then squander their victory
burn down the thrill of new love
in abusive dry ash of indifference
neglecting the trophy
as soon as it’s mounted
returning their skiff to the shallows
ambivalent toward
the stunned woman behind
and the likely divorce dead ahead

Iniquity

“Gradually Falling Asleep in Apathy of Unconsciousness” by Paulo Sergio Zerbato

stand in the rain

brave the storm

wash the guilt

of indifference

before it sets

permanent stain

take clean-handed

hold of opinion

adopt a position or

suffer the pangs of

dead conscience

in face of events

intellectual mayhem

gone out of control

because too many

moribund minds

prefer comfort of

sleep to the hard

pensive business

of outsmarting

vicious iniquity

Bump and Jar

“Indifference” by Jorge Cardenas

 

 

 

commuter runs sing out
their steely speed
clipping through
countryside stretches
that echo their stark
syncopated shrill hum

 

but these passenger trains
decelerate sharply
all the way down to
a bump and jar pace
when encroaching
old cities and towns
where they often
crawl carefully
mindful of vandals
and vandalized track
en route straight up
the backside of life

 

unkempt boarded-up precincts
sad shantytowns
nobody sleeps in by choice
hard places
where scavengers
pick apart carcasses
iron or bone
either way
stolen cars
broken dreams
they both have their markets
where pieces of what
were once noble and whole
are reduced to
illicit commodities

 

wheel rims and hearts
minds and stereo parts
engines and genitals
yanked from their hosts
lost forever
sold or indecently used
by pushers of
powders and pills
by predators
trading in souls
shredding dignity
like so much
valueless
vinyl upholstery

 

and the passengers
never quite seem
to take notice
eyes occupied
somewhere with
columns of newsprint
with briefcases
notebooks or
lidded in naps

 

yet once through and out
each bleak zone of despair
as the train regains speed
bump and jar
smoothed away
more than half
the well-barbered and
trendy coiffed heads
turn to look
out the windows
and watch the benign
untroubling scenery
leading them blithely
on to their own daily dreams

 

 

Corridors

“Corridors of the Mind”
Photo from flickr.com

electrochem pathways
that bend and chicane
through neuronal history
doors set their walls
portals closed upon chambers
where caches of treasure
knowledge cumulative
within DNA channels
come down through the ages
of natural selection
but only the bona fide
curious intellect
cares to keep keys
that open the locks
guarding wisdom of men
while the rest of the race
merely uses these routes
for their quick coasting
thoroughfare broaching a
blissfully blithe state of
conscious indifference
undriven to know any more
than what finds their
next comfortable meal

Beware the Indifferent

“Indifference, Year of Peril”
Painting by Thomas Hart Benton

don’t be fooled by the cool and aloof
the vacant ones seeming impervious to
emotional darts or accusative arrows
unmoved by uncommon affliction
unaffected by obvious blessing or curse
ungiven to judgment and thusly
unmarked by their own culpability
gliding along upon amoral principles
floating among all the finest salons
giving insincere toast to men’s virtue

uncannily surefoot they stride upon
unstable grounds in full heave of truth
no heartlight gives glow from within them
they must steal what is bright from their betters
so their friendship is never benign
these are the world’s most dangerous people
for emptiness bears metaphysical weight
enough heavy to crush whomsoever they touch
compressing the soul of humanity into
its deadpan disquieting animal essence