See All That Sham, Yours And Mine Poem by Raj Arumugam

you’re a comic
you pretend to be Socratic
put on airs of the Platonic
it’s all so obvious
it’s so damned pathetic



part 1

a)

you dress in the brands
such sophisticated names
you put on new coats and hats
and you discard often
and you’re like cattle
bred for slaughter
with the tags on their ears
and branded on their sides


b)

you frown at lies
politicians ply
you condemn the greed
of CEOs and superstars
but you don’t know
what lies within you
within murky depths
you don’t know your
own deceit;
you condemn delusions
but you have no idea of
the lies you tell yourself


c)

you are so full of contradictions
so overflowing with opposites
yet you are full of judgment
and justifications and condemnation;
you can scan others
by the rules of the book
but you don’t even notice
the dirt below your uncut nails





you’re a comic
you pretend to be Socratic
put on airs of the Platonic
it’s all so obvious
it’s so damned pathetic





part 2


a)

you’ve got plans
to conquer the world
you’ll be masters of the Universe
in centuries, in years
but you wouldn’t fix present wrongs
and you won’t be just
and so it’s like you mean to traverse space
to spread the gospel of the unjust




b)

you sit together
and each conspires
to make the group noble
but all you have are words
that you hang on to;
and you make traditions
and you fashion theories
and you weave explanations
and innovate declarations
and hallucinate revelations;
and then the group goes out
to bomb the world;
and you’ve got the justification
and the group’s benediction





you’re a comic
you pretend to be Socratic
put on airs of the Platonic
it’s all so obvious
it’s so damned pathetic




part 3

a)

the love you speak of
is just self-preservation
that brings in others
into the equation
of your personal comfort;
you speak love
you spread hate
and like changing water into wine
you can turn love into hate
and hate into love
for as in miracles
and in all transformations
there are no differences in opposites

b)

you’re comfy
to stand before people
and to make pronouncements
but you make no introspection:
you tolerate no questions from others
and you have no questions for yourselves



c)

on earth
you want pleasures
and you recoil from pain
and you cannot face your end
and so you weave continuity
and you create a Heaven
and a God to Lord over it
and so you can have an eternity
of bliss, happiness and pleasures:
limited by your imagination
you just continue
your earthly garden of pleasures
and plagued by your selfishness
you condemn others to Hell



c)

you’d rather climb up there
to the seats of power
and you want to change
the world;
you want to change everyone
except yourself
for you are the chosen
and you want to change
things
so they’ll be to your convenience;
and time stops there
and fear begins in the hearts and minds
of the peoples
and you spread comforts
and you dull their brains
broaden your bumps
so you can sit in full seats of power
that you won by craft of lies




you’re a comic
you pretend to be Socratic
put on airs of the Platonic
it’s all so obvious
it’s so damned pathetic






part 4

a)


and you say life
is based on virtues
and ideals and truth
and you espouse
justice, equality
and fairness and peace and love
and respect
and all these noble qualities;
but you don’t know any
for all you have are words
you memorized from your books
all you have are words
you repeat
your masters put in your heads
so the only thing you can do
is deliver rusty nails
and sewage water
in the open hands of the masses



you’re a comic
you pretend to be Socratic
put on airs of the Platonic
it’s all so obvious
it’s so damned pathetic