A Commitment To Uselessness Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

When people become too afraid,
To express their own identities...
With a making it known who they are,
They welcome the ease to be offended.
And wish less of their own culture expressed.
For a fear not to upset,
The flow of progressive oppression...
In subliminal ways that degrades,
On a daily basis in subconscious betrayals...
As if to prove a commitment to uselessness.

And they are the ones who amuse and entertain,
Those who continue to suppress them...
By opposing those amongst themselves,
Who attempt to retain a respect for disciplne...
And a kept dignity maintained to uphold and address,
What their ancestors would regard...
As a representation of a collective and unified mess,
Their struggles were not meant to leave left...
In minds wanting more to impress,
With ignorance and foolishness to allow and permit.

'We need a leader.'

~A leader?
A leader to do what? ~

'Show us who we are.'

~You need a mirror.
And a serious self evaluation.
Why for generations this has been avoided to dismiss,
IS 'your' problem.~

'You can't talk to me like that.'

~And that's another problem you've got.~