You Know Who You Are

looks like I was right after all...

Be nice

  but only to those in your in group

Reduce conflict

  by constantly talking about conflict

Fly flags of virtue

  talk down to anyone "not you"

Pretend to be friends

  lie about "enemies"

Pretend to be enemies

  lie about "friends"

Vilify cliques

  from your own little clique

Befriend what you hate

  just to piss people off

Morality frauds

  virtue signaling dogs

Living red herrings

  in a tribe against tribes

Full on moral hypocrite artists

  a petty pathetic

  vindictive distraction

An expert, a professional

  in full on moral hypocrisy

You know who you are

You know what you're doing

  please try not to choke on it. . .

  please try to do better

                     please try and be better        

Author's Note

Reviews

[TerryDarcy-Ryan akaSh..]

The reflection in the mirror, how do we live with the person we have become the things we resemble. A person who resembles honor or lives by the truth walks in these qualities despite their surroundings. I can read a synacism between the lines here you take pause and let the read see yet another perspective and then another. Reading this insights a visual of the fake and jaded I communicate with on a daily basis. You got your message across great job !

Sheer Terror

[Davidgeo]

This isn't one of my "look in the mirror" poems. This is very specifically about one individual.read moreThis isn't one of my "look in the mirror" poems. This is very specifically about one individual.

I imagine you mean cynicism instead of synacism.

This is more about disappointment in a specific individual than a cynical outlook in general. It always sucks when someone you once had respect for turns out to be a pandering jack a*s; and it sucks even more when you know from previous conversations that it turns out that that person never really had any moral consistency to begin with and will say almost anything based on whatever transient emotion is in control of the moment, true or not.

Some people pick fights by pretending to avoid conflict. Those people are a genuine problem with respect to honest discourse.

[TPK Stories]

Something I struggle with everyday. . . .well written!

[John the Baptist]

Someone is really getting a verbal flailing in this one. Not sure if it's a person or a group, but they are definitely viewed as hypocrites here. The speaker notes, "Looks like I was right after all." Evidently proof has been found. Glad they know who they are. I don't.

[.]

Sometimes, not even we realize who we are and make mistakes, anyways, this poem about pride in self awareness is really great. Keep writing!
Good Luck!

[BBP]

So much the way of the world huh? You think when you leave school you leave cliques and groups and haters of something that is different. But really, you just graduate to bigger cliques, bigger groups and bigger a******s!

[Davidgeo]

We are all haters of something. Even if it's just hating the haters, it's a general trait of the human condition. Tribalism, stereotypes, and group think have/had their advantages in the past and to a certain extent still do. Humans wouldn't have survived the brutal realities of prehistoric nature without forming groups, generalizing certain things as dangerous/poisonous, or having the ability to instinctively dislike the unknown/unfamiliar... they are all evolutionary traits left over from a different time that were once very useful but have since become largely counterproductive. As long as we can admit this to ourselves and be consciously aware of it, it's not really a huge problem... but some people can't or won't admit this reality and they turn into hypocritical d*********s of the worst order.

[BBP]

Everyone hates someone or something. Some even just hate themselves....

The problem wtih society is that they want diversity and begggggg to be accepted on all levels but people can't even have an adult conversation about politic or religion...or Chevy's or Fords.... because nobody is comfortable enough to appreciate someone else's point of view. If everyone could just calm the f**k down and appreciate diversity in OPINIONS and BELIEFS than the world would be calmer friendlier place.

But I don't assume we will get to that level of evolution anytime soon.

So in the meantime, just let people s**t on your ideas and realize their opinions don't mean jack if you dont want them to.

[AJNJ]

Really good. Bash em up. I don’t like such people.

[Davidgeo]

Stop making burner accounts to leave fake "positive" reviews while rating my poems 1/100. It's petty, childish and only serves to validate my worst suspicion's about you. You know who you are...

[Ookpik]

It's a little vague, in that while reading it it's not entirely clear whether I as the reader should be identifying the subject as myself or whether the intended audience will concurrently identify the subject as themselves - I'm left in a position where I'm forced to assume and I'd just as likely choose not to as I would attach the ethical criticisms introspectively, again whether I'm supposed to or not.

The indicative 'you know who you are' is my only complaint; it forces the reader (whether intentional or otherwise) to assume they're the subject and the assumption detracts from the value of ethical insight by replacing an opportunity for self reflection with a general sense of 'go f**k yourself'.

Otherwise nifty write and I like the cross indentation format.

[Davidgeo]

You're totally right about the vagueness. I can't be more specific without being a hypocrite myself though. But you're probably right, I could of done this more elegantly or at least more cleverly.

You're also very right about your other complaint. But that was kinda my point. There's going to be a person who reads this that I'm trying to generally say "f**k off" too.

I'm going to drastically change this or straight up take it down in about a week. I'll keep your suggestions in mind if choose the latter.

[Ookpik]

Just throw a clue in that lets the intended subject know who they are - metaphors are the best as most will skip over it thinking it's just artistic flair but if done well only the intended subject will catch it.

I think about it like 'f**k you' blues clues - definitely an active engagement in self indulgence but cathartic none the less.

[Davidgeo]

Fair enough.

It's for a user here named Divya, we kind of have a history. She's been writing bullshit "f**k you" type poems towards me and other's direction the past couple weeks and all her idiotic fucktarded followers have been jumping on that pandering comment bandwagon... and then, being the "awesome" not at all cowardly person that she is, deleted all of them about an hour after I posted this one.

She's one of those s**t talkers who pretends not to be a s**t talker. The worst kind of person to me.

I'm probably going to regret openly telling you this but... f**k it. I've just come to the conclusion that I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't. I will own the consequences.

[Ookpik]

Presumably your 'f**k you' blues clues game is on point then, and I've seen some of the work you're mentioning. Don't know her personally but I put two and two together when I saw them.

Regarding the bandwagoning I've seen pointed in your direction, I can both relate to it and adversely appreciate your point of view. In my mind a little retaliation isn't un-called for and the nature of bandwagoning typically distorts the initial dispute.

Ironically I see these kinds of things as healthy - if we don't keep each other in check we learn nothing and the writing typically stagnates.

Despite "toxicity" and emotional fallout, these things have a way of working themselves out over time and in my opinion the final product is often slightly more emotionally developed people.

It can seem harsh but I'm all for filing the edges - thin skin can be toughened and bygones can be bygones.

[Davidgeo]

Ha... "f**k you blues clues game", that's objectively funny.

I deserve most of what I get and the things that I don't are usually just the cost of doing business. I'm not a very nice person and there is a price to pay for carrying that disposition that I generally accept. But there are some other people that got lumped in with that in a way I find very difficult to ignore. There is dirty play and then their is gossipy vindictive play... the latter is something I will never just "let go". I even tried, at their request, but I'm not good at being an objectively good person just yet... so, there you have it.

[Davidgeo]

This is probably not going to end well for me.

[Ookpik]

Do what you got to do, simply being aware of the repercussions is a step above the majority who play the blues clues game.

My only suggestion is that if you're going to play it, then play it well. And if upon winning you feel a combination of vindication and personal guilt, than you're probably on the right track.

Best of luck with it, and again, nifty write.

[Davidgeo]

No one wins these types of games. They are wars of attrition, everyone loses a little bit from it. It's all just cathartic bullshit. Some can take more damage than others but at the end of the day no matter who is left standing, they will be a little less than they were before.

[Ookpik]

A little less and a little more - though you're right, it usually isn't for the immediate better. read moreA little less and a little more - though you're right, it usually isn't for the immediate better.

That being said the koombaya approach as an alternative breeds cognitive retardation. We're all just people in the end, a little less and a little more is what makes us who we are and it's not in my personal agenda to interfere with that process.

[Davidgeo]

The koombaya approach just breeds contempt politely and that always comes out one way or another, non-obviously or not, it always comes out anyway. The end of this game was predetermined a long time ago, consciously or not. There are always lines you don't cross, everyone has one. When someone who knows what that line is and crosses it anyway and then runs away... nah... that's not something I can accept without at least throwing out a little "f**k you c**t face" line or two.

I'm glad we're talking about this but we are totally making things worse right now. And it doesn't bother me at all.

[Ookpik]

Polite contempt is typically how I operate, and though I imagine that puts me into the category of ethical hypocrite, much like making this worse I also find it difficult to care.

Running from a crossed line is a different subject entirely, and if a "c**t face" from across the keyboard is the extent of realistic reaction, then do what you have to do. This is the internet after all, everything becomes valid as soon you hit the enter key.

[Davidgeo]

It's expensive to operate as I do. And there is no payoff. But not caring about things that don't really matter makes all of this free in the end. None of this really matters. That's my wild card, I genuinely understand that all of this matters exactly as much as you allow it to matter. But I still feel the impact. Life is weird like that, we can understand things but not truly see them for what they are all at the same time. Our emotions cloud everything to the point of turning reality into a caricature.

[Ookpik]

Lol and as far as Divya is concerned, she's the creative equivalent of an Instagram model.

This is a place for her to post pictures of her a*s, bask in the revelry of intellectual arousal and than accuse you of perversion when you send a DM. It's an esteem thing, this place makes her feel bigger than she otherwise would be.

[Davidgeo]

That is unfair. She is not that.

I'm not very happy with her in this moment and I'm quite sure I'll never speak to her under any circumstance again but I can't say she is intellectually bankrupt.

[Ookpik]

You're not wrong, but I still persist with the idea that the caricature is just reformatting the complex into a digestible visage.

This place in particular breeds personae and I think that's why I appreciate the people who refuse the temptation of manipulating self portrayal.

[Davidgeo]

You're not wrong about that.

[Ookpik]

Just my impression, again, I don't know her personally, though the fact that you still stick up for her should be cause for consideration.

I'm going to wish you luck again though and move on with my day, I'm burning a lot of daylight here.

[Davidgeo]

Just because I might despise a person does not mean they automatically become bad people. We all have our regrettable traits and make our own stupid mistakes. But she is kind of a d********g of a human being... the bad outweighs the good with her.

[Ookpik]

Being the creative equivalent of an Instagram model doesn't make her a bad person or intellectually bankrupt, it just typecasts her particular complex into a digestible visage.

[Davidgeo]

You might be right about that. I bet in about a weeks time I won't care either way.

[Cherrie Palmer]

It's disappointing to feel that way. So many here at the cafe use the odd man out playground rules to interact.

(Here's my .05 worth of my opinion)

I apologies in advance. :)

Everyone writes for different reasons, usually more than one. But I think overall people would get more satisfaction from writing if they could just let the negative interactions go.

Most people are not transparent in this online world, so don't let dramas fuel our writings.

Because once the last phase is punctuated no change will occur.

[Davidgeo]

There are a few people here for which writing is secondary, sometimes even tertiary. Some of those few happen to be highly intelligent but also highly distracted by their own personality problems and unrealistic expectations. I know this because at one time I was one of those people, not so much of the highly intelligent variety but from the personality problem type.

Most of us here try and ignore those types and sometimes placate them in their moment of mania. But that doesn't really help things, in the long run it enables that behavior to continue and sometime even flourish.

Confrontation is never a good time and can be wholly counterproductive... but sometimes, you just gotta rip the band aid off no matter how painful it is in that moment. Any infection that festers underneath will only become worse under cover.