The mobile device is insidious.
You must check the latest…
You want to know who texted you!
Yet you are sitting next to your
friend,
brother,
sister,
mother,
date,
stranger on the bus, etc.
Whoever is beside you
do you know what they look like?
Oh wait, that’s what the camera function is for!
Given when they want the attention.
Walking in front of computer screens.
Butting the phone out of your hands.
Jumping up into your lap and or arms
when you aren’t looking at them.
Being adorable and annoying
and purring the loudest when you pet them.
Love them and they love you back.
They sit.
They stare.
They look up at you patiently.
Waiting.
But there are no sticks nearby.
The toys are out of reach.
They are disappointed.
So they go find places to sleep.
For cats
this is normal.
Our society requires us to show up sick
to work because we are only allowed so many rest days.
Our job performance is directly affected by the mental
and physical capacity we have when sick.
Yet we are still expected to perform flawlessly
because our presence is required.
Do you want another plague ridden body
or for the work to get done with less mistakes?
What is even worse is when the sickness is mental.
No boss will believe you need the day off
in order to recuperate from the mental exhaustion
your depression or anxiety has created.
Our society sucks!
Decorative and semi functional.
There to please the eyes of the men.
In the background with no useful dialogue.
The patriarchy wins again as the token woman is silent.
Or worse, misogyny overrules when it is determined
She is the villain of the story.
So instead the stories rule she will be used
only to further the protagonist’s arc.
Revenge or redemption and chance of her own fulfilling plot line.
The main one is guilt.
How could I let it happen?
When did this happen?
Is it true?
Who do I believe?
What questions should I ask?
Who can help me?
Fear is the next major emotion
then shock, anger and even surprise.
Regret plays in last because you thought all precautions had been taken
only to find out…
you were wrong!
Not taking a shower in three days.
Dishes piled up in the kitchen sink.
The process of removing the accumulated snot
during the recovery of the sickness.
The man catcalling the woman on the street.
Calling people worthless just because they are the wrong colour!
Denying climate change because the facts don’t make you money.
Anti-vaxxers or as I shall know call them plague enhancers
who think they know more than the doctors
who are trying to keep you and your kids alive!
Corporations that fund politicians to influence policy
and the politicians that allow themselves to be bribed.
My kid ignoring me as I ask them to take out the garbage by the back door.
My denial that I can not do anything
and just meekly accept things as they are!
The sexy lampshade walks and talks
but all she is there for is the furthering of his story.
She dies a tragic death so that it fuels his revenge.
The more shows and films I watch
the more bitter I become.
I want tasty bits for the women who show us what life is like.
The ones that real and not easily replaced with an inanimate object.
Sure the fuel for his character plot could have come from an old partners death
or the loss of his life’s work.
Why fall back on the tropes of misogyny?
Why treat the colors as inferior?
What does race mean or religion?
How are we different when we are all the same inside?
The blandness of the stories told need spicing up.
So please give me a little inclusion sauce.
I like seeing all the genders portrayed
even the most fluid of them!
The thrill of excitement.
The rush of adrenaline.
The boring follow up
as you are recaptured
and are coming down from the shock.
Laughing because you can.
Trying again will be harder
but this mundane life needs to be spiced up sometimes.
When the bad behaviour increases.
When the limits are pushed
and relearned the hard way.
They fight and scream and curse your name.
The dreaded uttered words
“I hate you!”
Usually screamed because it causes more of a scene.
It is in these trying times that the parent must remember
if this is how they react – it is good
because if they got everything they wanted
they would be spoiled and selfish when they grow up.
Afterwards, give them a hug
and remind them of your love.
Saturn's Premier Poet 