Academics in a Bubble

I have a problem with Academics
that try to define the human condition
and decide what is best
for the majority of
humanity.

What they study is theories
many theories over many years
statistics that are both pro and anti
works-in-progress

But if one person
one in this humanity
they propose they understand or help
disagrees

then that naysayer is a child
or a naïve fool

They have forgotten that a piece of paper
does not make them a teacher
or that it demands respect

They’ve forgotten what humanity looks like
unmasked and un-blurred
thronged in a shadowy crowd

It looks like me
and you
and the person
they used to be.

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Keeping Up Appearances

One day, a writer-friend told me
People will leave
Their iLibraries open
Swap iPhones on greeting
As if exchange handshakes.
And akin, to the dust-covered dens
Of solipsistic, educated folk,
Nary a book will ever have been read.

This is the harsh truth, I’ll sugarcoat it none

Games of luck and games of chance
Flying a kite on a warm summer’s day
Are wonderful, stress-free pastimes
Those childhood modes of play.
But do not think to tinker with my heart
To take it apart and wait until I erect it again
Do not mistake an emphatic “NO” for a start
And resume those cruelest forms of trickery.
That façade that proclaims kindness is false
That smile only searches for a new toy to break
Like a self-deluded hero
You mistake a friend as a vampire to stake.
And though I loved you, and showed myself true
I love myself more, than to be treated so by you.

Egoism

The atavistic pulse
Excites a parsimonious greed
For a self mindless of others