[the poetry billboard] - 'I Should Not Be Where I Am' by Eric Chaet
 
 
I Should Not Be Where I Am

Eric Chaet

Yes, I agree I should not be where I am,
that I should be in some position of responsibility
engineering more justice, less hypocrisy—
but there is a line of candidates lined up around the block
for each position to which I’d otherwise aspire—
each candidate more willing than I to tell the judges
the lies or misunderstandings that they require.

Therefore, I’ll work from where I am, for the same goal—
attempting to whittle away at my own self-indulgences,
as well as at the lies & misunderstandings
of the judges, candidates, & those affected
by their ideas, deeds, & misdeeds—
to make something apparently impossible occur—
the only alternative to unending war & times called peace
in which the righteous dare not even speak
& the innocent—hypnotized by education, advertising,
& propaganda both cynical & that relayed by others likewise hypnotized—
are eaten by their masters, molecule by molecule,
who promise them protection from fanatics likewise intent on dominating them.

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