Dreams

Do you see me? (poem)

Look around you.

What do you see?

The preppy kids, flocking to the front

Performing for us, the unobtrusive.

Faked offense and never showing real affront

Such were the ways of communication

Among those not so redundant.

Bubbly tinkles,

Boisterous gestures,

Balked flirting;

They Judged.

Unconstitutionally,

Constantly,

Unmercifully;

They talked.

To groom their group

To include only the elite.

Do you see the social people?

Those born to entertain, without reprieve

They never got too soft, nor compassionate.

Anyone, Anything; all was beneath their stomping feet

They could shush their consciousness

So that they could judge, as was their fate.

They went unattached, not ever able to trust

And yet had “friends” in every corner of acceptable cliques.

Filtered and combed, foundation shaky;

Such were the ways of the popular.

-

Do you see the next step down?

Do you see the wannabes?

The ones who were plucked and discarded

Deemed not good enough to join the ranks

Of the acrobats and the performers?

The pitiful who refused to accept their standing

And strived to retain their placement

As a lord, or a lady, or a baron, or a royal

With that power and the title given

That they had once had, and forever lost.

-

Or do you see the perfect ones?

The ones with straight A’s,

Who never missed a problem

Who always had their work in the morning

And rather than sweat over it, worrying-

Tapped their pencils on their knees,

Read charts and scientific reports

Sat emptily and waited,

Their lives dominated by the will of their teachers.

And the demand for excellence put upon them;

Whether that insistent demand for more, for better, for best

Came from themselves

Or their parents.

-

Or

do you see me?

 

Do you see me lurking in the shadows,

Observant sometimes

Zoned out others

 

Lazy yet Attentive

A listener

R. Kalen