Need Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Increasingly blatant.
Witnessed and seen.
Are entitlements,
And freedoms given.
For many to have,
Their wishes, wants...
Impulsively granted.
With a selfishness pleased.
Without urgent necessity.

Whether less to have,
Or more to accumulate...
Left to horde and waste.
Spoiled is this excess.
Regardless if confiscated,
From others to take.

Pre-conditioned.
Is this permitted competition.
Celebrated.
For its theft and daring,
To win at any cost.

Increasingly.
Are impressions to make.
And attention to get.
By those drugged,
On self importance.
Flaunting their 'rights'.
Freedoms and entitlements.
With a living in a culture.
Fed to feed on greed.
Disrespect.
And irresponsibility accepted.

Until...
A natural crisis arrives.
No one expects.
To drop jaws.
And open wide shocking eyes.
Slowly done to awaken,
A pretentious mindset.
Into a collective consciousness.
Realizing...
A real need has come,
To prioritize reality.
And its truth for what it is.
Stripped away,
From every delusion...
Worshipped.
Yet kept to keep believed.

Truth to face it for what it is.
Is serious business.
Not a rumor or a joke.

In times like these,
Few can afford...
Charading in masquerade.
In the hopes,
Precious impressions to make,
Saves their masked faces...
From anguish and heartbreak.
Although the attempt,
May receive...
Honorable mention.

Be you brown, black, white...
Or of another chosen color.
We...
All have a need for each other.
Contributing to the survival,
Of our wishes to want them.
And dreams to get.
Benefiting a quality of life...
That has never,
Depended upon isolation.
Or kept pretensions,
Observed to witness see...
Feed anybody!