I See This Reflected Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

I used to think of them as funny too.
People who acted foolishly,
To portray themselves as clowns and buffoons.
In fact,
The more they acted like that I never took them seriously.
I wanted to be entertained by them continuously.

I noticed when I got older,
I hated to see people I knew with intelligence...
Disrespected for their attempts to convince they had sense.
And mocked for the doing of it to diminish with contempt.
Wanting them with wishes meant to lower their self esteem,
With a representing others who also had lower expectations...
Dreamed.

And I see this reflected upon the children who have no respect,
For others in this kind of environment...
Wanting to become successful with the doing of their best.
But depicted to be fools for thinking to believe,
They can achieve to heights if they wanted to succeed.
And although difficult they do...
With a disregarding those who object to their goals and priorities.