Did You Hear That? Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

"Listen.
Ssshhh. Did you hear that?

-No.
All it is,
Is just more nonsense.-

"Let's pay attention.
A few have been called,
To stand up and be cited.
For doing 'something' extraordinary."

-Like what? -

"Ssshhh.
An announcement is about to be made."

What an honor it is for me to say,
To these few people:
You know...
Not everyday,
Has it ever been considered...
That congratulating anyone,
Having the audacity during times...
Like none other.
To not only be logical.
But also make sense.

This should have everyone sitting,
Feeling appalled and insulted.
To not comprehend,
How devastating and noticeable...
The popularity and acceptance,
Ignorance has been to defend it.

No one should feel insulted or appalled.
Not at all.
When only a few,
Have been selected for using their minds.
As if this has been discovered.
And introduced as a new invention.
That has possibilities and benefits.
Especially for the ones,
Disbelieving they have minds to use.
And...
Folks listen very carefully.
Everyone has the capability,
To think independently.
If...
The doing of this done,
Begins with this begun...
On a regular basis.

"Now...
Did you hear that? "

-Yeah.
I certainly did.
But where do we go?
To witness the evidence of this.-

"You got me.
But you do have a point.
And that's the main reason,
I am suspicious of these fads.
And new found trends.
They never stay around for long."

-I told you it was nothing but nonsense.
Let's get out of here.
Before we are made to believe,
We choose to victimize ourselves.
Always...
Somebody is paid who has the expertise,
Attempting to distract us...
From our reality to accept theirs.-

"Ain't that the truth.
But I did learn one thing."

-What was that? -

"They must have paid those folks a lot,
To look shocked when they stood up.
And not one of them cried.
When the people sitting began to 'boo'."

-I told you,
If we did that louder...
They would have ran off the stage.
But NO!
You were the only one,
Trying to be polite about it.-