Gary Beck/Turbulence
Shock
A grudge festers
year in, year out,
reaches boiling point,
leads to detonation.
Someone goes postal,
invades an office,
shoots bystanders
with no concern
for innocence, guilt,
just blind anger
delivering death
unexpectedly.
Streaming
Disconnectedness
affects so many,
saturated
with information
from the internet,
the fountain of knowledge
diffused electronically,
insufficient questioning
building blind acceptance.
Rape and Pillage
The system I grew up with,
a democratic ideal
of checks and balances
to preserve basic rights,
has been loudly overturned
by an ignorant, dangerous leader
who knows not the harm he does.
He collaborates with destruction
of the environment,
undermines the economy
with irresponsible trade wars,
betrays the American people
by diminishing opportunities,
and shatters the international order
that has prevented World War III
since 1946.
Is he evil? Insane? Both?
What else could explain
his assault on the nation?
Traffic Jam
Sirens frequently go off
in large cities,
police, fire, ambulances.
Once we moved out of the way
so emergency services got through.
Now many are reluctant to move
unwilling to give up their place,
urgent to reach destinations.
Of course they don’t realize
that if they were in the ambulance
in a race for life and death
the traffic obstructions
would insure they wouldn’t arrive alive.
Motives
It’s almost reassuring
in a society gone mad
when someone has a reason
for a deadly rampage.
We grow accustomed
to mindless assaults
on schools, churches,
other gathering places
where we presume safety,
until fatally reminded
by sudden attack.
