Distracted, ashamed, shifted focus, tunneL,
Over and under and away from the holloW,
No eye contact. No sympathy - real, quasI,
Or other. Keep waking. Ignore thier needS.
Too bad they did this to themselves. How saD.

Glad I made the right choices? NO.
All I have to be glad for is better luck than theM.
If not for the grace of someone else's God, go I.
Nothing different but our separate fateS.

Too easy to pass on by - blind and numB.
Humanity is rarely humanE.
Each cry conveniently to someone noT
Walking passed. Someone not losT
Over and under and away in a sea of 'mE'
Rejoice in the comfort of selfish concern foR
Limited recipients: me, myself, and I is iT.
Determined narcissism and ignored deatH.

Avoiding virtue as deftly as a pleA
Never spoken, Never writteN,
Darkly arguing about worth and addictionS,
Like charity bestows its alumnI,
On the spot with a black gown and gaveL.
Sinister excuses and twisted improV,
Existing only to make okay an obvious vice.

Yesterday, a cold shoulder to a former soldieR.
Over and under and away gaze searching tO
Understand why seeing someone hurt and pooR
Results in mortification and disgust and hidinG.

Small acts of kindness seemed to gO
Out of fashion. Work, Buy, Hoard it alL,
Until...? Well, I imagine 'til world's enD. 

Jessie Gutierrez