Is Someone Sick? Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

You would be surprised,
How many today have come to realize...
What tomorrow brings,
For them to come.
And not to shock or stun.
Leaving you perhaps that one.
Dazed and amazed with eyes fixed,
Until they glaze.

You...
Would be surprised,
By how many do not deny...
Knowing what to them has been done.
With no signs of attempting to overcome.
Or running to beg to be included.
This you must witness for yourself to believe.
Away from movies or rush to see on T.V.

But...
Not too many can afford,
Living everyday to be deluded.
Easily tricked or fooled by it.
And even fewer wish themselves to be included.
Among the powerful and rich.
Wanting only organically grown lettuce,
On their ham sandwiches.
With a chewing them 'proper'.
Without a need to lick lips.

No!
Not too many can afford these days,
Choosing that to do.
Providing more proof,
Living to be delusioned...
Is in much need of overdue therapy,

No one shows empathy to the chauffeur.

-Today?
I am told,
There is no other way.
I must face telling the truth.-

"Sir?
Whatever you wish to say,
It is kept between you and me."

Then explain when driven by a chauffeur,
Why they would rather take another route...
Than to go through a neighborhood.
Where they pretended to have lived,
As a child left abandoned.
Only to remember...
Three dudes bearing gifts.
And being lifted from a manger.
While a star so bright,
Made them squint their eyes.

"Uh...
Mister President, Sir?
You've told that story before.
And it is beginning to sound more like,
Joseph and Mary, baby Jesus...
The three kings and Bethlehem."

-Hmmm...
Are you sure?
I just remember being lifted,
High.
Towards the brightest of light.
Maybe that's the reason,
I am being publicly crucified! -

"Sir?
Perhaps it is a good thing,
Your campaign rallies are being cancelled.
This 'corona-virus' has begun to have,
A tremendous effect on you."

-To be or not to be.
Shakespeare.
Many have no idea,
Shakespeare first heard that from me.
Why are you stopping here at the hospital?
Is someone sick? -