I remembered being 'tagged' smart. <br />And intelligent. <br />Not only to make me feel different... <br />But to 'label' my qualities. <br />To ensure I was to feel... <br />A degree of being out of place! <br /> <br />As if an ability to think, <br />For many of them then... <br />Was a disease. <br />No one wanted to catch! <br />And I was to feel contaminated. <br /> <br />I thank God I didn't listen. <br />But as a child being stubborn, <br />I wanted to spread my affliction. <br />An addiction I had to be totally annoying. <br /> <br />Now that I am much older and wiser, <br />I think of those who had been afraid... <br />To be themselves. <br />Conditioned they were and enslaved. <br />And creating their own comforting discomforts... <br />Surrounded by a decadence taught and instilled! <br /> <br />And today, <br />I see the dismay in urban cities. <br />I see the decay allowed by those <br />Who chose ignorance as their way of life, <br />To live. <br />Seeking welfare handouts or corporate 'bailouts' <br />To erase the affects of quick slick greed. <br />That came to ease the feeding... <br />Of a pretentious way of life. <br />Bleeding... <br />To leave them suffering in strife and sorrow. <br />On borrowed time and on someone else's fortunes, <br />They wish to pick over. <br /> <br />These 'traps' are nothing new! <br />They are just old and tired methods... <br />To expand the addiction of self indulgence, <br />At someone's expense! <br />And refusing a complete overhaul. <br /> <br />And those of 'smart intelligent' are sought now, <br />To sacrifice their lives lived... <br />With an empathy and good deeds, <br />To lift these fools from a collective lazy gluttony. <br /> <br />Even though they may be despised for their efforts, <br />Brilliance and talents claimed. <br />They are relied upon to shoulder... <br />The brunt of darkness.<br /><br />Lawrence S. Pertillar<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/just-old-and-tired-methods/
