Living Under Such Duress Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

You had been the one to chose,
To ignore the wounds and sores...
Upon others done.

Hunger and homelessness,
Were those things not addressed.
Since you were then not affected.
In fact,
You had expressed...
A disdained for those suppressed.
And living under such duress.

That you are now stressed,
By similar distresses.
Why are your needs more of a priority?
When it has been your selfishness,
And way of life kept...
That has created today's disasterous effects!

And I,
Still affected...
By your decades of unwarranted disrespect,
Am accused of not expressing...
To you an empathy you feel I should direct?

Your delusions have created this mess!
Not mine!