Bonus Poem of the Week: Fall

Fall
September 18, 2021

We all have emotions. We’re humans, after all.
Still, one gauche show of how we feel, and wham! We fall.

Too oft do we let others get under our skin,
And in our resulting rage, we fumble and fall,

Foolishly erring in our attempts to “get back”
At our offenders, who laugh at us as we fall,

For no matter how dumb they are or how simple
Their scheme to upset us, joy they feel from our fall.

Why such malice in the first place, I can but guess,
For I’ll never grasp the want to see others fall.

All I know is that many is he or she who
Savors angering others and making them fall,

Which takes no real talent or smarts…just a sick mind
And a soul too foul to know that one, too, shall fall—

Or, at least, “Actions and Consequences” dictates
One should, for by those rules, all that’s wrong in life falls.

Still, it rarely seems that justice prevails in this
Reality. Otherwise, more cruel clots would fall.

Alas, they don’t, which is all the more why we should
Keep our heads on straight when preventing our own fall.

“Let cooler heads prevail,” the saying warns us all,
For lashing back out will surely lead us to fall,

Making us look like dolts despite those who started
The whole affair, who’ll merely mock our fated fall

While others scold us for acting out ‘gainst the brats,
Despite our obvious victimhood in the fall.

Why risk getting punished for others’ actions, then?
Is it worth the cost in the end after a fall?

Why not just regard the slobs for what they are in
The first place and blow them off ‘fore they make us fall?

That’s the way I look at it, for in the long run,
“Look out for number one,” if you don’t want to fall.

After all, let the guilty be punished for their
Crimes, for they—not the innocent—deserve to fall,

And should they, maybe they’ll at last grow up and be
Productive for once, having learned from their own fall

That hurting others to help oneself’s no great life—
That doing so will do naught but lead one to fall—

And from there, person by person, we’ll all move on
To a brighter future where none of us shall fall.

After all, pain’s everywhere, looking to hurt us
All one way or another and laugh as we fall,

And what better way to get the last laugh but rise
Above it all and live happy lives while pain falls?

*****

Author Pages: Smashwords.com
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Bonus Poem of the Week: A Long-Overdue Message to Anyone Who Insists “We Need Bullies”

A Long-Overdue Message to Anyone Who Insists “We Need Bullies”
March 17, 2021

“We need bullies.” So I’ve heard once upon a time—
To teach our kids some “character” in this cruel world, friends of mine…
To teach them how to toughen up in the face of all that’ll come
Their way in a world where too many people are selfish and dumb
And will do all in their power to bring them to their knees and cry
For their own sick sense of entertainment, for they’ve a need to satisfy:
The need to manage the insecurities they haven’t the spine or brains
With which to cope productively, hence their love to drive insane
The weak, the meek, the mild-mannered, those who walk alone, and so on.
Well, at the risk of inviting heat, let me say why I think it’s wrong
To think that bullies are “needed” in any age, including this one,
And to think that we do is ignorance, which we all must send on the run.

They say we must ignore bullies, should they ever come our way
To call us names, spread lies about us, or otherwise ruin our day.
Any reaction to them at all, they claim, only gives the scum what they want
And makes them feel they’ve power over us, which they’ll mercilessly flaunt.
Really, though, how can you ignore being picked on day after day
By the same sacks of trash time after time who refuse to go away
Who oftentimes get others to join in and makes matters even worse,
No matter how solid your poker face tries to ward off such a social curse?
Sticks and stones may break one’s bones, after all, but words hurt more
Than people realize, especially when they come in a downpour
Upon one daily without cessation, which should lead people to wonder
If “ignoring” is really the term to use when one’s emotions bullies sunder.

Besides, when a bully lays his or her hands on you, should that be ignored,
Or would you say then that legal measures need to be in store
For the creep, considering now that it’s more than words you’d be dealing with?
Even if he or she just shoves you out of the blue and persists
In doing so on a regular basis, isn’t that grounds enough
To stand up for yourself, especially when things really get rough
And you fall face-first against a wall and suffer a black eye,
A mouthful of broken teeth, or worse? Must you put up with that? Why?
Boy or girl, it makes no difference. Assault is assault in the end,
And no one should have to deal with it. Then again, bullies are sick, friend,
And at times want more than to just show off for their pals or taunt their prey.
Then comes the question of “Should I fight back?” to which most answer “No way!”

After all, the days of the Wild West are gone, and why risk the chance
Of getting suspended or even expelled from school ‘cause some punk wants to “dance”
All over your face with his fists or feet or even a weapon of some kind
Or coerce you into hurting them so that it’s instead your behind
That lands in trouble for breaking school rules and the law in the name of
Standing up for yourself against some jerk who didn’t get enough love
From his or her parents when he or she was younger, hence his or her aggression?
Self-defense is one thing, after all, but why pay for another’s transgressions?
If anything, strike only if you’ve no choice other than to do so.
Otherwise, resist the temptation to regift your aggressor’s woe,
For while soil your reputation as one of the “good kids” just to satisfy
Some brat’s want to get under your skin while said brat gets to run off and hide?

Face it: The only thing bullies can give us from which we can benefit
Is the chance to learn right or wrong from their behavior as well as what’s fit
When it comes to handling their lot, for like cancer, smut, and so on,
Bullies aren’t totally unavoidable, no matter how weak or strong
Any system’s anti-bullying measures are, seeing as humankind
Has always had and always will have a penchant for evil of some kind.
Maybe, then, it’s not bullies that we need, but keen morals and lessons to
Commit to when living in this world and guide us in all we say and do
So that we can turn out to be credits to our race and not riffraff like
All the bullies and trolls who still roam this rock and can all take a hike,
For only one of a primitive mind would enjoy causing others pain,
And if we all think as such, society might as well go down the drain.

*****

Author Pages: Smashwords.com
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Bonus Poem of the Week: It Shouldn’t Have to Take a Movement

It Shouldn’t Have to Take a Movement
March 7, 2021

It shouldn’t have to take a movement to teach others how to think—
To show others courtesy and decency.
These things should be part of our nature, and I’m sorry, but it stinks
That too often, that’s not how things tend to be.

Too often are there insolent brats who tease and harass other folks
Who aren’t like them in one way or another,
Who spread lies about them, call them names, and about them make cruel jokes,
No matter the excuse, dear sisters and brothers.

I’m not talking ‘bout just school kids, either, but alas, grown adults, too—
Grown in body, of course, but hardly in mind—
Who perform even worse deeds, much to my dismay, than the kids do
And make me feel like we’re all centuries behind.

What does it take, after all, to look past skin color, gender, or age,
Among other things, to know a person’s truth?
Why is judging by negative stereotypes alone still all the rage
When doing so hardly makes one any kind of sleuth?

People have layers, after all, as Shrek taught us once upon a time,
And we’re all much more than what others hear and see
On the surface, which one can easily learn by offering one’s time
To another to find out what he or she can be.

Perhaps that someone else is more like you than you realize:
Same interests, goals, beliefs, dreams, and so on,
But you may never find that out lest you try to open your eyes,
Ears, mind, and heart and take heed of his or her song.

Who knows? A new friendship you might forge, should you give things a chance
And not submit to prejudice or fear
Like those who came before you, judging others by first glance
Or the propaganda of others they read or hear.

We’ve been divided long enough, folks, by the lines we’ve drawn in the sand.
It’s time we’ve moved on together down a new path.
It shouldn’t have to take a movement, to lend this world a healing hand,
But so be it, should we as a society last.
 

*****

Author Pages: Smashwords.com
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Bonus Poem of the Week: Hatred Drains

Hatred Drains
January 28, 2021
 
Hatred drains, drains the soul,
Withers it down while the body grows old,
Saggy of skin and brittle of bone
With white, wispy hair too easily prone
To uprooting from the head with a single tug
And drifting down to the bedroom rug,
Lying there to be vacuumed later on
While silence hovers ‘round as the only song
Echoing in your ears as you sit alone
In what is far from a happy home.
 
I used to know hatred when I was young,
Back when life was supposed to be fun.
Others who knew me not had the gall
To poke and prod me, trying to make me fall,
Taking delight in the grief they caused,
Not taking even one second to pause
How they’d handle it if one to them did the same
Coming out of nowhere to make them feel pain
For no reason than pleasure of personal gain
Even if for a minute’s worth. Ain’t that insane?
 
Sure, it did stop o’er the course of time,
But only by sheer dumb luck, friends o’ mine,
And though the prodding may no longer be
A thing, the pain from it still lingers in me
And pops up from time to time when I’m alone,
Working my fingers to the bone
At Task X or Y ‘til my mind wanders
And reminds me of a past I’d left back yonder
I wish I hadn’t lived, but alas, I did
Even though I tried to be a happy kid.
 
Luckily, from that example, I did learn,
And forever in my mind, the memory burns—
Not only for worse, either, but for better, too,
For the lesson I’ve learned I shall now offer you:
Selfish are people, lest by example led
To care about others and use their heads
To understand differences and treat with respect
Those not quite like them, and though hatred yet
Lingers in society, hope still remains
That one day, we can at last break the chains—
 
The chains of hatred that continue to bind
Us to this day, lest we learn to leave behind
The biases we still carry in our hearts
From a past we’ve endured, for it’s been time to start
Caring ‘bout each other one way or another
And treating each other like sisters and brothers
In our mission to move on as a society,
For this bickering we’ve been doing, as all can see,
Is doing us no favors, so let’s all cut it out
With the screaming and shouting ‘fore things go further south.
 
Call it a pipedream if you must,
But in my mind, it’s forward ho or bust.
Let us know at least one decade where hatred’s been
Cast to the side so that the healing can begin
And the drama we’ve all endured for so long
Can be but a memory and a different song
We can sing proudly for all humankind can hear
From the bottom of our hearts to the stratosphere.
Siblings, cousins, neighbors, and friends,
Let this era be the one where our hatred ends.

*****

Author Pages: Smashwords.com
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Bonus Poem of the Week: The Crowd Is Overrated

The Crowd Is Overrated
January 17, 2021
 
The crowd is overrated,
Their opinions so inflated
To where I roll my eyes
At—if not plain despise—
It to where I want to debate it.
 
I rarely do so, though, these days,
Considering modern folks’ ways,
Thin-skinned as they are
That they easily scar
From paper cuts and quickly display
 
Fury at the slightest diversion
In their pool of cerebral immersion,
Calling those who disagree
All names to hear and see
‘Round the world. It’s all mental perversion—
 
Especially when it comes to “tough guys”
Who sit around and spread lies
‘Hind a computer screen,
Thinking that “loud and mean”
Is the way to “dominate” “small fries.”
 
Little do they know, however,
That such a childish endeavor
Only shows how inane
They’re at being the bane
Of the Internet or where-else-ever.
 
Besides, too often, the crowd’s dumb,
Its members’ minds all dull and numb,
As they rail against that
Which another’s called “scat,”
Yet the “other,” often ‘nough, is as dumb
 
And is talking out of his or her ass,
All the while showing little class,
Screaming and cursing
As he or she’s bursting
At that which has yet to pass,
 
And the crowd all follows the lead,
None smart enough to believe
Anything other
Than what they read, brother,
Or hear from he or she in the lead.
 
They all follow, too, with the same ‘tude:
Loud, self-entitled, rude,
And obnoxious to boot,
All foul-minded brutes
On the warpath, hate as their food.
 
The more I think about it, too,
The more it makes me more than blue
Until I turn red
With rage and dread
At what this world’s coming to
 
When folks tuck their brains up on shelves
And refuse to think for themselves.
No one stops to think,
“Man, your behavior stinks,”
But instead think like everyone else.
 
No one thinks of the consequences
Of possibly losing one’s senses
And acting like a fool,
Which isn’t at all cool,
But embarrassing and defenseless.
 
No one thinks that such infantile crap
Can quickly earn one a bad rap,
For too quickly do guys
And gals let their rage rise
And lash out at any poor sap.
 
Heaven knows where it all leads to, too,
And just between me and you,
I wish there was a way
To keep tempers at bay
‘Fore more violence comes out of the blue,
 
For clashing always seems to be the thing
‘Long with all the upheaval it brings,
And these days, we can’t afford
To let tempers further soar
And consequent actions sting
 
Others in more ways than one.
Sadly, I doubt such feuds will be done,
Lest we all do our part
And agree from the start
To stay calm even when the war’s won
 
And to observe stories from all sides
‘Fore we cave in to whipping hides
And put proven facts together,
No matter the weather,
Before our opinion we decide.
 
After all, even if great minds do
Think alike, one thing I can tell you
Is that differently, too,
They can think. I promise you.
It’s what they think that makes them true
 
Tools for guiding us throughout life
And coping with common strife
As it comes down the pike,
Great and small alike,
Rain or shine, spring or fall, day or night.
 
It’s all a matter of conviction
Sparing our minds from constriction
When faced with crowds
And their attitudes loud
And their petulant fear addiction.
 
Therefore, think for yourselves, friends.
Let others’ rage not bring an end
To what you believe
If you want to receive
Good fortune ‘round the bend
 
Upon staying true to yourself
And not caving to anyone else,
For in this world, it’s drive
That keeps the strong alive
And at bay the loud, whiny whelps.

*****

Author Pages: Smashwords.com
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