Machiavelli at SAIC ~ Saturday, May 10, 2025

For my teacher, Beth Nugent,
lover of animals, especially, horses
at the School of the Art Institute
who called me Machiavellian

"Language reflects the mind of the speaker."
~ Rui Carlos da Cunha

---

Is it my fault that I don't like people
sure, I don't like church either, they don't mind

if I burn down a church, they look away
turn the other cheek, until the steeple

mightily comes crashing with a great roar
yet, if I burn a homeless man, the blind

fake their lack of vision to see and say
arguments in a court of law, to think
underneath all their lies, I set the score
lithe, little man, unwed and underfed
triumphant over petite bourgeoisie

truly, they pretend to care, the less said
however duplicitous they may be
actions speak louder than words, if I sink
their battleship, how are they to save face

I'm sorry but I speak my mind freely

discipline taught me how to hate others
of course, I love my family, the disgrace
no one chooses to face, neglect, with care
traumatized children ride the trains, daily

linger awhile, how they treat my brothers
if their poverty wasn't their own fault
kindness from a stranger might feel unsafe
every decision someone makes, to share

positively, without judgment, mistakes
even I admit wrongdoing at times
only, my wrongs, when I step on the breaks
perhaps before I glue a thousand dimes
literally, to the ceiling, how brief
even this sorrow for others, sheeple

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