Friday, October 16, 2015

THE SUFFERING


How wise we are
about people's demons

What experts we are
on the subject of morals
things people had no business doing
things they shouldn't have said
places they shouldn't have gone
when the monsoon struck
pulverized their generator of hope
and their world went dark

We're so well-versed
in their pain
how it should affect them
causes they should embrace
help they really  should have sought
should have been informed enough
to know about
wired "properly" enough
to be interested in
strong enough
to ask for
savvy enough
to pursue
worth-filled enough
to want
or even feel they deserved

People do the best they can
to deal with the boogeymen
hunting them
chasing them down the alleys
of their reality
with pitchforks
in the daylight
smothering them
in their dreams at night
crippling the half a heartbeat
they wake up with
pilfering their desire
to get out of bed
to wanna live
through the day

Their best
may not be a best
we approve of
but so what?
who are we
anyway
but disdainful bystanders
ill-equipped
to speak on
how to confront
much less slaughter
the beasts
on people's streets

Already strugglin'
to win the battle
with the brutes on ours
but got all the know-how
about what it takes
to take out others' woes
repave the roads they travel

Got more
opinion than compassion
judgment than understanding
more arrogant answers
than heartfelt questions
so much
fuzzy memory
for how we've wrangled
with our past
in ways that weren't great
coulda been healthier
but we did what we could
with the emotional wherewithal
we had
and to someone who was watching us
it wasn't good enough
wasn't right  enough
yet here we are
spying and scrutinizing
people's sagas
all perfected and accomplished
in the art of dragon-slaying

Got hella PhDs
in the suffering of others
but truth be told
some of us still don't have
a degree of comprehension
about how to master
our own

©2015 Charlene E. Green  




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