Who are these dealers
ordering the deaths of children
then shrugging their shoulders
over evening cocktails
confessing “collateral damage” as absolution
instead of weeping as parents should
they might be monsters
Who are these dealers
glamorizing violence by
selling dime bags of glory
and sample tokes of fame
to our youngsters
hooking them on false dichotomies
of good and evil
of truth and fiction
they might be monsters
Who are these dealers
portraying dialogue as cowardice
negotiation as weak
patience as wasted
then entertain us with action heroes capable of
solving any problem in sixty minutes
with time-out for commercials
and a gun
they might be monsters
Who are these dealers
reducing issues to binary choices
presuming our stupidity
our inability to address complexity
our unwillingness to find compromise
to live with less than ideal
they might be monsters
Who are these dealers
voices dripping with greed
with guile
with ambition
they are not my neighbors
not my friends
no one I know
they do not speak for me
they might be monsters
Who are these dealers
wizards in shadow
flipping switches
shuffling decks
buying votes
follow the money they tell us
see who’s to gain
who’s to lose
they might be monsters
Who are these dealers
whose products we buy
whose ballots we check
whose shows we watch
who lets them in
throw back the curtain
look in the closet
look under the bed
look for them everywhere
but be wary of mirrors
they might be monsters
Marv Himmel
April 13. 2015 ©