Going With the Flow

When society begins to swell with pride

like a stream being filled from a sewer

it is easy to divide people into groups of bad

and those of us who are far better

even though our pants are falling down around our ankles

we worry that those other people aren’t dressed well enough

or that they aren’t as healthy

as those of us who never come in out of the pouring rain

without a government mandate

or listening to an expert explain to us the dangers of getting wet

when we embrace the safety of segregation

we can be confident that we know far more

about someone else’s personal situation

than the radical who sits with the broken

that nobody else wants to love

(those idiots that think

without even being told what to think

the ones who don’t fit into our crowd

waiting in a line at Walmart

for a cashier who will never come)

yes

the real danger lies with those outside the mainstream

we are being swept along

the ones who dare to question

those who should never be questioned

about where we are going

those who wonder if we should be looking for a way to get to the shore

asking foolish things like

would our boat would be better off with a paddle

or does that hole in the bottom mean trouble

those wild eyed radicals always muttering about the waterfall

just down this lovely river

raging with the stench of wastewater