POEM - Shaking Our Superior Head

It appears we have presumed
the importance
of bringing to them a name 
to state there deviation
from acceptable to
castigate to the abhorrent core

the fault lines in their beliefs
being more important still not
to be listened too
to care for how they arrived here
what circuitous routes they took to
turning a deaf ear to our wisdom

nor can we allow one
free finger of thought
to touch upon the reasons
for bleaching their hair roots
lest accidentally to stumble upon a
need for stability and belonging

of a very similar cast
to your own to what
you demand and possess
for sure they are 
clinging to clearly
unconscionable conclusions

but all desires run hungry
for a clear cut gypsy globe
to gaze through for omens
to dispel the persistent misting
of tired rationales
cracked frameworks

and caged mindscapes
however incorrect we
conclude these to be
in the wrong they stain humanity with
a compromised existence squeezes tightly
around the neck of them

emerging from this murkier
less familiar end
of the shallowest income bracket
to be found near our neighbourhood
seeks favourable conditions beyond
the insecurity of plasterwork 

the surface mould on their
turned out to be
trashed horizons
and the ever advancing
pollution haze of grim prospects
and career potholes

they want what you want
to have what you have
even looking at
the same photographs
they perceive them in negative
with all faces blackened

teeth erased and backlit
skies thunderous in
a petri dish culture of grim
all moral prognosis
biologically dipped in fixative
declared superior via slogans

gestures and sounds that bite those
purely English apples of prejudice
tattooed upon their flexed arms
affinities cable tied to lamposts
that brings to them a pride
that puts all bread and

ambivalence to bed we fear
the fouling of fossil fueled ideals
seeping into our eco-cleaned carpets
because all this has seemingly
got far too difficult
for us to encompass to continue

being eminently reasonable about so
we slap a name upon them
and shaking our superior head
walk back to the car
fearing for our lifestyle sanctified through
our better taste and choice in shoes

 


Written by Stephen Lumb January 2026