Poem of the Week: Get Your Act Together!

Get Your Act Together!
October 1, 2022

Get you act together for once, Mr. or Ms. Moderator!
Stop giving power to trolls, cyberbullies, and mindless “haters”—
Senseless sots who haven’t the heart to contribute anything of worth,
Instead electing to sit at their computers on their rear girth
And type spiteful, hateful trash at and about folks daily sans pause,
Thinking that their doing so makes them more than rebels without cause.
They’re not cute, clever, funny, or tough in any way, shape, or form,
But heartless children whose development is well below the norm—
Even in a world like ours where selfishness rules day in, day out.
In fact, if I knew no better, I’d swear that all they’re about—
Their very reason for existing in the first place—is to annoy,
Harass, and hurt others like ill-mannered little girls and boys
Whose parents and teachers alike have failed to teach them right from wrong
And who have no talents other than vexing others through word, deed, and song
For no other goal than their own amusement, perverts that they are,
Not caring about what harm they cause with their crap or what kind of scar
They might leave in the wake of their wickedness so profound and untamed,
And the fact that they get away with doing so within your domain
Because you do naught about it makes me sick to the pit of my soul.
Would you raise your own kids to act so brazenly to young and old?
Was it okay by your own parents if you took shots at everyone
And everything you loathed in life for the sole sake of “having fun?”
Because that’s not for me on any level, so excuse the standards I bare
As well as my dismissing all your excuses for not giving a care.
After all, I live by the belief of actions and consequences,
Where people who morally step out of line suffer fitting sentences.
Physical society usually operates under such a rule,
And why you can’t enforce it yourself on your own “turf” against the fools
Who refuse to behave with any sense and instead run amok
Spreading lies, spewing death threats, and such makes me think you’re a schmuck
As clueless and spineless as a winter night is cold and long, my friend,
Oblivious to the damage these brats are doing to your site in the end
And/or too gutless to do anything to put them in their place,
Should you carry on sitting by on the sidelines and let them further disgrace
What you’ve been running for years, hence why I’m venting via this verse
And imploring you to do something to save face in the wake of this curse.
Don’t let glorified parasites take control of what you hold so dear.
Lay down the law, install in them all some healthy respect and fear,
And kick them to the curb for their discrepancies, for the good folks
On your site could never get away with being such bitter, blightsome blokes
And commit the atrocities the trolls do, yet the trolls are still having fun,
Especially since they know you’ll do nothing to send them on the run.
I’m not holding my breath, though, for I know better than to expect
Inert forces to suddenly become active, for it hasn’t happened yet,
Even though I’d love to be proven wrong here and see justice rear its head
And punish the wicked for their misdeeds, but hey…let’s put this to bed.
Bottom line, Mr. or Ms. Moderator: Get your act together
Before the inmates further run your asylum straight into stormier weather
And further make your forum a living hell for people who deserve and demand
More than to put up with nonsense of any kind that might come close at hand.

*****

Author Pages: Smashwords.com
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Additional Poem of the Week: Unforgivable

DISCLAIMER:

The following poem reflects my initial thoughts and feelings about the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, this past Tuesday, May 24. I’ve no doubt at all that more details about this tragedy shall come to light in the days to come, but my thoughts and prayers nevertheless go out to the survivors and to the victims’ families. May this be the last of such heinous acts that this country has had to endure over the past twenty-plus years.

Dustin M. Weber

*****

Unforgivable
May 25, 2022

So you didn’t graduate high school. So you leave home with a gun,
Head on out to an elementary school, and shoot up everyone
Who’s “in your way,” claiming nineteen kids’ and two teachers’ lives—
None of whom knowing what had set you off? I’ve no sympathy for you, guy.
Why should anyone feel sorry for you, what with how you sought to cure your grief
Via violence, in turn causing others’ despair? What does that solve, chief?
All you did was prove your cowardice by not taking your own problems on
And overcoming your fear for the future by acknowledging what was wrong
And devising a productive solution to conquer your own roadblocks,
Instead taking your frustrations out on those who had no stock
In your success or failure in life, nor much—if any—means to defend
Themselves from your selfish, senseless rampage, which may have come to an end,
But in turn only marks the continuation of a heated conversation
Between those in favor of Amendment Two and others across the nation
Who, in contrast, want stricter gun laws and leaders to enforce them robustly.
That, and your victims’ loved ones’ pain is all too plain to hear and see,
For no one should have to lose a friend or family member suddenly.
Still, you brought it upon yourself to give so many folks a day of misery.
I can only guess what you were thinking or what else may have driven you
To commit the atrocity that you had or what else I can say to you
To let you know what I think of you that isn’t condemnation or scolding,
But I hope that in the not-too-distant future, a new era shall be unfolding:
One of prosperity and peace when acts like yours cease to be for decades—
If not, in fact, centuries—and kids can safely go to school from grade to grade
To learn from travesties like the one you’ve caused rather than feel them first-hand,
For we’ve all suffered more than enough pointless bloodshed across this turbulent land,
And cowards like you have done more damage to our wellbeing than you’ll ever know.
Sadly, it’ll take a lot for us all to rebuild, heal, and finally let go,
But I hope and pray all the same that the day will come when it all will happen so
And the depressed and distressed across this nation will at last have backbone enough
To tackle their turmoil with serenity and strength, no matter how rough
Things get, for though we all have plights of our own to face in this thing called life,
The last thing any of us need are cowards like you causing more pain and strife.

*****

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: Cowards in Authority

Cowards in Authority
February 14, 2021
 
Not standing by your values, not upholding what you believe,
Standing by idly and doing squat while others badger and deceive
Or, worse yet, going along with what’s wrong and defending it
Rather than doing what you know you should and seeing what’s fit
To be done is in fact done so that justice can indeed be served.
That’s what cowards do in my book, and it really gets on my nerves
When a man or woman in power lets the guilty ride away scot-free
While the victims receive no vindication for all to hear and see
Or, worse yet, receive punishment for the crimes done unto them,
Leaving the real crooks laughing all the way ‘til Heaven knows when
Their misdeeds finally catch up with them, which one would think one day
Will at last happen and happen soon in some spectacular way.
Alas, life’s not always kind, and wrongdoers often get away
Unscathed with the deeds they’ve performed because none will stand in their way
And see to it that they get their just desserts after all in the end.
That’s why when those upon whom we rely to set things right, friend,
Won’t for one excuse or another, it’s all too easy to cry foul,
But let’s face it: Outcry’s never enough when the guilty are on the prowl.
Remember: Words are one thing, but action is quite another,
Which is why when it comes to rule breakers, we must stand by each other,
Show some backbone, and stand our ground as we put the scum in their place
And leave them there to serve their time on account of their moral disgrace.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, after all,
Is for good men and women to do nothing but let darkness fall.
Such is what Edmund Burke would say, and I refuse to disagree.
Alas, I alone have no authority on Earth to hear or see
The wicked get what they deserve, and all too often, those who do
Refuse to take responsibility to do what we pay them to.
It’s up to us, then, to put in power those who will step up
And take over from those cowards who—like the whining, whimpering pups
They are—have allowed evil to take place while the innocent get trampled on.
It’s happened before and will happen again, lest we change the tune of our song
And set things straight one way or another for the world as a whole
And set the underhanded crawling back into whatever deep, dark hole
They’d crawled out of prior to their crimes so peace and good will
Shall reign again in this world that for too long has wallowed in their swill.

*****

Author Pages: Smashwords.com
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Poem of the Week: Trolls II

Trolls II
November 11, 2020
 
Trolls are sad and pathetic—the Internet’s cruel joke.
The art of trolling really ought to go up in smoke.
Petty little boys and girls with tinier minds
And no one in their lives to crack their lazy behinds
And teach them right from wrong and steer them towards
The path of decency and have them move forward
With their lives and do something productive with their time
On Earth rather than waste their own, yours, and mine.
They scour the Internet looking for a mark to tag
With their sorry excuse for humor just so that they can brag
‘Bout getting under the poor soul’s skin and getting a jolly at
Their expense, no matter how childish and asinine their scat.
They’re not cute, clever, or funny, and they certainly aren’t tough,
But when it comes to harassing others, they can’t get enough.
They’re loud, obnoxious, annoying, dim-witted…you get the point,
And they’re not above using profanity to stink up the joint
Or name-calling of any kind or bogus accusations
To pass themselves off as alphas, which is well above their station.
They love spouting off hypocrisy and projecting themselves
Onto those with whom they argue, their souls tucked high ‘pon their shelves—
Assuming they’ve souls at all, snickering at their own sad jokes,
And yet, folks on YouTube, et cetera somehow subscribe to these blokes.
Why? Just to fuel their fragile egos? Where’s the sense in that?
Are people somehow entertained by such mindless, spiteful scat—
Random brats hurting others’ feelings for their own amusement?
I’ll never understand that at all, for that’s not how my mind’s bent.
Has something happened to them with which they’ve yet to deal
Like being bullied as actual children? Is that what makes them squeal
With delight when some poor victim gives them the reaction they seek?
‘Cause even if that were the excuse, it’d still be pretty weak.
To think, too, that the filth they say can easily fall apart
While under the lens of logic, yet they dare not fail at their art
And will combat anyone’s reason with warped rationale of their own
In a desperate effort to cut their critics down to the bone,
All the while further exposing their immaturity with each word
And image they smear ‘pon the page before them, the clueless turds,
Yet YouTube and other sites won’t do anything to shut them up,
These angry, pitiful munchkins…these sick, perverted pups…
And force them to find something else to do that might be worth their while—
Something wholesome and sensible that would indeed bring a smile
To themselves or to others and help them sharpen what talents they’ve got
Other than making asses of themselves and thinking they’re so hot
When really, they’re a dime a dozen and not worth a penny at all,
And dare they act as they do in the real world, surely, they’d fall,
And quite hard, too, be it from someone punching them square in the face
Or someone with brains and backbone verbally putting them in their place.
Why else, then, would they take to the ‘Net, where they can hide ‘hind a screen
And practice the practice they’re known to do, so rotten, rude, and mean?
They know they can’t handle the real world, so they play make-believe
And use their computers as weapons in an effort to deceive
Others into thinking they’re tougher and more bad-ass than they truly are
When they’re naught but annoying cowards who in reality won’t get far,
Lest someone comes along to shape them up—hopefully for good—
And stay off the Internet, for that’d no longer be their “‘hood.”
They’re liars, cowards, and losers—parasites of the highest degree,
And if they’d all crawl back into their holes, that’d be just fine with me
And the rest of us, I’m sure, for we’ve enough hate in this world
Without putting up with their nonsense, such disgraceful boys and girls.
This world needs to heal, not hurt, anymore, no matter the time or place,
And to hurt others just to make one’s self happy is simply a disgrace. 

*****

Author Pages: Smashwords.com
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