There was a Poetry Slam recently held in Southeast Nebraska. The second place winner presented the audience a poem that was very telling about his prison experience. Here is his winning entry:
Broken Man
Broken Man, Broken Man.
Look, everyone!
It is a broken man,
Existing in his broken world, surrounded by broken people.
As Broken Man attempts to rise above the broken system, he grasps for any nut or bolt a broken society will toss his way,
In hopes to repair his broken self.
Will Broken Man ever be whole again?
Or, is he doomed to be discarded by the broken system and labeled as useless, marred, rejected?
Has he not paid the debt of his actions that deemed him unfit for society in the first place?
Will that debt ever be paid?
Will the solitude and pain of isolation ever balance the scales to merit a clean slate?
Let us also not forget about the ones society has hired to calculate the size of the debt.
Will they ever be satisfied?
It seems they are never satisfied on the small everyday scale,
So how does Broken Man even THINK about satisfying them on the grand scale?
Are they also not broken?
Someone once shouted, “Have faith, Broken Man. Have faith!”
Faith! FAITH?
Have faith in WHAT? A broken system?
Or, are you referring to blind faith?
And what about blind justice and good old rationalization and justification?
It is all mental masturbation-
You end up screwing yourself!
I GOT IT!
What about faith in Broken Man?
How do you repair your broken self?
Forge your own nuts and bolts, piece yourself back together?
I can envision it all now…
Headlines! Headlines! Read all about it-
“Broken Man repairs himself. Vows to repair the broken system.”
Look out, broken world!
Look out, broken world!
~Tom
Look, everyone!
It is a broken man,
Existing in his broken world, surrounded by broken people.
As Broken Man attempts to rise above the broken system, he grasps for any nut or bolt a broken society will toss his way,
In hopes to repair his broken self.
Will Broken Man ever be whole again?
Or, is he doomed to be discarded by the broken system and labeled as useless, marred, rejected?
Has he not paid the debt of his actions that deemed him unfit for society in the first place?
Will that debt ever be paid?
Will the solitude and pain of isolation ever balance the scales to merit a clean slate?
Let us also not forget about the ones society has hired to calculate the size of the debt.
Will they ever be satisfied?
It seems they are never satisfied on the small everyday scale,
So how does Broken Man even THINK about satisfying them on the grand scale?
Are they also not broken?
Someone once shouted, “Have faith, Broken Man. Have faith!”
Faith! FAITH?
Have faith in WHAT? A broken system?
Or, are you referring to blind faith?
And what about blind justice and good old rationalization and justification?
It is all mental masturbation-
You end up screwing yourself!
I GOT IT!
What about faith in Broken Man?
How do you repair your broken self?
Forge your own nuts and bolts, piece yourself back together?
I can envision it all now…
Headlines! Headlines! Read all about it-
“Broken Man repairs himself. Vows to repair the broken system.”
Look out, broken world!
Look out, broken world!
~Tom
Tom gives us much food for thought. We invite your comments. It would thrill Tom's heart to know others have read his poem and have opinions about it. Do remember you are welcome comment anonymously.
Wish I could've heard this in person. Outstanding! So sad, so true. How do we fix the broken SYSTEM?
ReplyDeleteWhat's the point of commenting anonymously MC?
ReplyDeleteBB, some of our readers are shy and would not comment unless they could remain anonymous. I get many emails because folks want their say but they do not necessarily want it to be public.
ReplyDeleteTom's poem was posted without identifying him because he has been incarcerated.
Always great to have you drop by, BB!
Hugs
Mother Connie