The tighter a country wraps itself in its flag
The more it becomes constricted
Unable to see the rest of the world clearly
Nationhood is less about freedom and more about control
No matter what any constitution or zealot patriot might say
Countries and all our multi-layered levels of governance
Keep people in virtual feedlots
Penned in by ideas and concepts that overlay reality
In our shared delusion of civility
Look at the absurd lengths we go to
Interrupting each others smooth glide
By creating complex rules and imaginary lines
Which at their core only exist inside our minds
Now, storm troop clerics have returned
Like old testament prophets
Calling for retribution and revenge
Binary thinkers are the death of the rest of us
Auditing beliefs and creative thoughts
Against a template of hate and bitterness
All those angry faces calling for compliance
Fall into line!
Fall into line, they say
Judging everyone
Harshly critical about every action
Every reaction
So we dance these complex dances of bizarre ritual
Looking about as civilized as an ant colony
To our visitors from beyond
You know who I’m talking about
They must be quite amused
At faith-based hatred that legitimizes torture and murder
As we go around killing one another over ideas
Borders
Morality
Sexual inclination
Racism
Prejudice
Which pleasures are allowed and which aren’t
Ideas that have no physical presence in this plane of existence
But manage to keep us nose to grindstone
Brown-nosed and beaten
Through passive acceptance of the status quo
Instead of standing up and looking around
Making our own judgments about what’s in front of our eyes
Not behind them in some surreal zeitgeist
Informed by myths and legends long since twisted into barbarity
Anyone can choose to see clearly
If you want to
Be free
Be free enough to look at a field without mentally imposing
Some line running across it like an impenetrable force field
Be free to see things as they are
Not how you’ve been conditioned to think they are
Be free
Be free to see reality
Look at the stars
Let go of control
Let go of everything
Be free
David Trudel © 2013
createdavidt 
Aspire
My vision is not of today or tomorrow
It spans the generations
Assuming some semblance of this civilization sticks around
Manages to survive
After all, think back a hundred years ago
To when women had to fight for the vote
When prejudice and bigotry ruled
Social injustice prevailed and corruption was endemic
Not just sporadic
All things considered there’s been some progress
Civil society usually is
And the aspirations of some long ago version of myself
Would be mostly met
Looking at our normal social behaviors
So when I see a world free of violence
It isn’t a world of today or tomorrow
But one of years and generations away
When the adolescent zeitgeist of today
Has a chance to mature
To realize that negative energy, of whatever kind
Defeats the purpose
Drains the reserves
Serves no good purpose
And in that realization, society will transform into
Cohesive freedom of shared responsibility
David Trudel © 2012
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Tagged as aspirational targets, blank verse, equality, free verse, future, futurism, poetry, social activism, social commentary, social welfare, zeitgeist