Abysmal Failure Poem by John Sensele

A nation fails the fairness and equity test when one of its minorities
Whom it once enslaved continues to wallow in abject poverty at the bottom of its wealth pyramid
Despite vast contributions the minority made for majorities
To live in opulence, affluence and influence, indeed.

A nation fails in its education when mis-education, ill-education
Pervades a minority who somehow misses the social mobility ladder despite diligence
By citizens to break a glass ceiling that strafes their direction
Towards self realization because systems tilt against them the power balance.

A nation fails when it incarcerates more samples of a minority
Despite foibles and frailties belonging to human nature as a whole but
Prison populations somehow display a proclivity
Towards accommodating a larger than normal minority cut.

A nation fails when gun culture
Attracts attention among a minority who feels fairness
Lies in ownership of weapons to carve a future
In a nation in which the minority seldom celebrates bliss and happiness.

A nation fails when it treats a female presidential candidate with scorn
Casting the intrepid candidate as a green monster
Because she dares to stand in presidential elections and to blow her horn
Loud, shaking misogynists who feel the presidential office is no woman's oyster.

A nation fails when despite huge numbers of victims
Dying at the behest of a trigger happy gun owner whose mental state
Thrives on taking several lives, several kindergarten toddlers and teams
Of innocent shoppers and bystanders with no room for gun ownership debate.

A nation fails when abject poverty lives side by side
With ostentatious affluence, opulence and extravagance
In the new millennium when the tide
Of poverty fails to create for the vulnerable and the indigent solutions in advance.