Dignity Ii Poem by Gary Diamond

So much for dignity.
So much for all that is hereditary.
Don't we all wish the best for ourselves
And locked in unobtainable dreams
Consign ourselves to an unwalled living hell.

As much as my dignity fails and I indulge my vices
As much as I rue many days and their bad choices
As much as my head slumps and will not stand on high
As much as every failure is a chink from which I'll die
One day.
But not this one.

I'm not even sure what all the games are about.
I have as little idea now as when I was a kid.
Things make about as much sense as ever.
Except now I can admit
The madness of this little dust sphere
Are vague and nondescript.

So much for the slamming doors for hiding things.
The fights with the missus
The little self-signing madnesses.
The cantankerous observations
The causes of our misery
Obvious to everyone but the self.

To be a doormat
Seems as bad now as being outspoken and original
No one can handle either
Or in fact much of anything.
I see a dying society swapping rules around
Trying to make sense of subjects that have none
What a waste of effort.

As dignity takes the back door
As guilt and greed make another encore
The reasons for the failures are clear
In the drunken moment of clarity
At the bottom of the pint of beer.