I was watching
The slyly subservient watching
Ugly people being nasty to other ugly people
The wit was cruel, no redemption there
Wallowing in defeat and calling it victory
They raised their evening cocktails and gave thanks
That they were bland enough, pale enough, selfish enough
To be left alone
This is the contract they agreed upon
Let the monster do what he wants
And they will talk about stylized food,
Bedrooms that feel like exhibits,
And how the neighbourhood is so clean, and quiet, and soft focus

And I caught myself wondering, did you not hear the mothers crying?
The young man’s dignity stripped away?
They cleaned your bathrooms and mowed your lawns
You reported them anyway

And I almost gave up

Some time later
One humid night full of the sounds of children playing
As their parents drank, and flirted, and decompressed
I caught an interview with a young girl at a protest

She was angry but pure about it
The light of hope made the rough edges vanish
Triggering incels as she called them out
(Oh they drank the bitter whine)
The bigots and their huge bags of malice
The torturers and the desperately afraid
Jumping at shadows, addicted rabbits
”It’s those darker than us!!” they scream into the void
She smiled, breathless for a second
Laughed out loud, joyful, as she ran out to march
Positive, glowing, resolute
Creating the minute course correction
Towards the destination of the righteous, the harmonious

And I thought, twenty, thirty, five hundred more of giddy people like her
This hectic dark world
Maybe will just have a chance