Conditioned To Perceive Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

You have been fantasized since birth.
You grew up collecting cartoon books.
When your teeth fell out as a child,
Under your pillow they were put.

I remember as a child you confessed to me...
Minnie, Mickey and Mighty Mouse,
Were all related in a family of mice...
And you watched them grow up in your house,
On your brand new TV!

Today I can't say a thing to you.
Anything that touches upon reality.
If I question the state of the economy?
Or how politics and christianity,
Are tied to false beliefs and this society...
You say I'm the one that's deceiving you.
And my mind is full of negativity.

When you are the one,
Who has been conditioned to perceive...
You are better than anyone living in this country.
And a greatness can be kept,
With bigotry and racism that disregards diversity.
Totally absent of unity!
Something tells me...
One of us has missed that school bus,
Quite a few times!