Tuesday, April 22, 2014

De-Mystified

Nearly 3 million dollars

in bonuses was given

to more than
twenty-eight hundred
employees

of the Internal Revenue Service
between October 2010
and December 2012

but twelve hundred
of these people
had tax issues

or official-conduct violations.

Now granted
their bonuses are something like
one ten-thousandth

of what CEOs get
for their more egregious
stealing from the commonwealth

and those responsible
for the bonuses
will likely be reprimanded

but hypothetically

who can begrudge
the more relatable
Joes or Janes

from doing what has been
successful for those
who have inherited power

in a would-be democracy?

Optimists believe
the people will wise up
and rise up

pessimists believe
the people will be subsumed
and meet our doom

and while these two
were discussing
how they saw the world

finding both points of contention
and overlap

the CEO had a few quick meetings
filled up two glasses
with both their "-Mist" suffixes

and said
"You both look so thirsty."

This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.