A poem by Beverly Stock.
Is it just me?
Or do you see the toxic residue
That comes each day from our daily news?
The telling and retelling of painful sights
Hateful words describing unwinnable fights.
Evil doers in high places squeezing life out of greatness
And splitting understanding with incisive sharpness.
Reputations and hope burning in anguish.
Is it just me? Or is this what you see?
Civility and humility must be found
This chaos cannot continue to abound.
Or must my sensibilities become concave,
Just to quell the constant rant and rave?
Do I then become complicit about what is right
Allowing the wrong to continue without a fight?
Decades have worn off my many layers
Of bravery, optimism, and occasional prayers.
Does it take more life than I have left to give
To live in peace, feel safe at home or on my own?
In this mighty land of promise and clemency,
My realities are becoming void and empty.
How much longer do we live complacently?
Is it just me? Or is this truly the decay of democracy?