(They’ve privilege, but less freedom owned.)

Nearsighted but Enthroned

Before, buoyant in a bountiful pool,
The water level languid and kept;
Now, seeps and creeps ever-rising,
My smothering I’ll have to accept.

My perch of power and strength,
Seems at best a memory stored;
A reverse abdication, a grounding,
a high-seas flagship forever moored.

Before, their eyes smiled, attentive,
Observing this perennial honoree;
Now, thrum and bustle unchanged,
Eyes dour, looking right through me.

Before, my words, at times eloquent,
Faultless elocution, balance, poise;
But time’s betrayal again strikes,
My melodious oration is now noise.

Catering today to ne’er-do-wells,
A horrific unmitigated disgrace;
How’d laggards start so behind,
But already finish this race?

The minority, now the majority,
And standards now under attack;
A new group fueling disaster,
runaway on the wrong track.

I’ll need to find before I fade,
When pride in self-providing;
Gave way to a different species:
Entitlement- people now presiding.

Before, we worked to earn our keep,
The always path to remuneration;
Now, handouts for free are norm,
a society hell bent on degeneration.

I’m cold-cocked and stunned
That those diminutive and weak;
Were long since given the take,
While my survival still I seek.

It’s a paralyzing shock to me now,
That I wasn’t allocated a slice;
Though self-sufficient and bold,
Incredibly, I’m now paying the price.

Before, bad dreams upon awakening,
Blinked away, dissipated with the sun;
Now, nightmares that used to fade
As I rise, they’ve only just begun.

Entitlement… a malignant abomination,
The new nearsighted are but enthroned;
It’s mass-hysteria, a normalcy-castration,
They’ve privilege, but less freedom owned.