Another day at the office

You attend dutifully, dapper as ever, 

sip green tea, adorn yourself with a fancy,

close to the mouth microphone;  take your

turn at pontification, then nod your head 

in sycophantic obsequiousness to the 

interminable, futile rhetoric that bleeds 

from the jaws of other well fed hyenas;

that unlike Dostoevsky think truth is worth any price. 

Sometimes, though only metaphorically speaking,

you wring your hands, pay homage to the

stricken;  stern of eye, sturdy of limb 

as empty promises slip through your lips

as easily as your expenses chit slips 

past the blinded eye of the great unwashed;

knowing that tomorrow, or in one year,

whichever is the sooner, it will not matter. 

Later, you are chauffeured home in cossetted luxury:

there is a warm light shining in your home,

your servant is at the loom, spinning sweetly

and all the bells in fairyland are tinkling.

"Good day at work?" she asks, as the bones

of dead children cry out for compassion.

"The usual," you reply, "Aleppo,

my goodness, when will it ever end."

Only as time ends is the answer you seek.

When the men with no eyes

The men with washed hands

The men with stones for hearts

The alchemic shifters and shapers

will be brought to final judgement.

Reviews

[h d e rushin]

it rattles us doesn't it Baccy? Because image, more than any other optical counterpart, is never insolvable. And no matter how much your heart is broken (while the rest of you kicks off your shoes) what remains is human and thus desiring. My mother when she doesn't want to hear bad news turns on "Bonanza" when the nightly news gets too scary . Which is just another image with usually a good ending. Ben and Hoss Cartwright might of had a fight and got their hats knocked off, but all is well in the end. Insultingly, only the bad guys had to pay. Not the good guys who look and acted like bad guys......beautifully written...dana

[jacob erin-cilberto]

the wolves in sheep's clothing, using others, taking advantage, getting rich off of others...their day at the office...

but there will be judgment...and the meek will inherit the earth....those with compassion will find themselves receiving compassion at the final tilt...

this is an incredible piece of poetry, with dialogue and such a story told...

a parable within a poem...

j.