Dimes and Dozens

Nope

I am going to tell anyone who reads this a fact of life,

if you do not stand up to bullies,

you are worse than they are.

(probably)

It is not always pretty,

sometimes you got to get downright dirty,

but it is worth it.

(is it?)

Ignoring something "icky",

in the hope someone else deals with it,

why?

(why not...)

Does the act of willful ignorance absolve you of blood spilled?

Sometimes it takes a villain to do a hero's job.

Popularity and a sense of ease,

the reasons we keep quiet as they scream.

Author's Note

Take a stand for something, roll in the mud, get your sleeves filthy.
Stop acting as if ignoring the bad in the world is an automatic pass to an easy grave.
Writers are, in a sense, on the frontlines of activism and politics.
Do not be a silent witness...
When good people say nothing, bad people win.
The end.

Reviews

[Robert Trakofler]

until only a few days ago as I sipped from my "red eye" Joe Biden mug and listened to the news that he was withdrawing from the race I felt all but defeated I started a poem about the mal informed MAGA Stormtroopers...
You are a treasure
of alternate reality
a true pleasure
of pay no mind morality

and I also started a poem about Gaza and the Ukraine...

And the people spoke, and nothing was said
As visions of genocide, danced in their heads
the silence of children, glanced on their screens
were as muted as the voices for the ones that screamed
filling my heart with a sense of dread
for the infinite loss, of so many dreams



And the statesmen speak, of their displeasure
while they send weapons like a treasure
and ignore the systematic slaughter
of another peoples sons and daughters
from yet another great transgressor
and in the same breath, speak of moral falter

And when I stand before life’s alter
And I see these offerings

But I couldn't finish them the moral of the story is I agree with your poem whole-heartedly but sometimes I find it so hard to finish them but one thing is for sure I HATE A BULLY

[apennylate]

I have seen far less inventive, and far more boring writing being published with great aplomb and guffaw.
To think you so casually drop such badassery.
In a comment section, of a s****y unmodded poetry site deep in the recesses of forgettable internet sites.
Bullies are not my favorite, they are generally gate-keeping morons built for middle management, and in lieu of finding that in life, they find critique sites.
I have more unfinished than finished, by god I could just combine all my unfinished thoughts into a practical avalanche of impracticality.
Let the rest sort itself out after digging a city of tunnels three months later.
Very much appreciate the time, Robert.
Thanks muchly for reminding me what a real writer looks like.

[Robert Trakofler]

Well it’s nice that you think so highly of my scribble because I have always enjoyed yours! I think it takes one who really loves words to recognize another… after all it is a sickness of an insatiable nature

[apennylate]

I do think highly of your scribbles, mate.
Absolutely would agree I have some sort of sickness...
And it feels insatiably incurable.
I am beginning to think nothing anyone does will make the peanut gallery happy.
Except peacefully dying, that is...
We allow that.

[Robert Trakofler]

I am working as an editor on a site at Medium called woodworkers of the world unite and I'm also slowly constructing my own site in medium if you would like to give medium a try... As for the peanut gallery Readers are as fickle as your typical housecat I have yet to figure out what makes them love something that I think is meh and what makes them hate something that I think is great LOL but thru this all it just makes me want to keep trying for that perfect piece that one line that smacks me upside the head and pulls my jaw to the ground! it is my sincerest wish that you keep writing because I'm a selfish a*****e and I like to read your lines

[apennylate]

Could not agree more about not knowing what hits the mark for readers, I think it is s**t, am told otherwise by all, and begin to question all I am and know lol.
I would not mind trying Medium, it seems like a fairly legit site.
I will most likely be writing till I die, as words are all I have, and have ever had.
So you are in luck!

[Robert Trakofler]

I will keep my eye out for submissions the program can be a bit clanky but i will be happy to help you

[Gee]

Hmmm, tis far more easy to sort out bullying when it's face to face. These internet bullies know that if your hackles rise to the shite they post it is a win in their book. Having been dragged up.on a single parent street of many "uncles" it i frustrating to stay the least that these pricks are allowed to pick on those that will not or care not to bite back. A good slap.around the ears sorts out most of this type of bully

[apennylate]

Ahh, this comment, if I was searching for it, would the one found in glorious golden hues laying on a spackled beach before me.
I effin' agree.
Sooo very much.
God forbid you start a fight with the intent on the actuality of violence finding you betwixt your spoiled ears.

No... Only to spoil for others what you, yourself, spoiled upon deciding the human being you would be, would most accurately be portrayed by a steaming pile of dog s**t.

Then, them calling uncle and running away still is somehow a loss for us, because now your reputation is sullied for having kicked the weasel in the henhouse.

Because god forbid we frighten the chickens.
Reminds me of the villages that decides it is too much trouble to fight the dragon, so they offer it a virgin every month...
Cause eff it.

[Green]

I do find this just a little hard to read because of the formatting, and I hate saying that because I think it's also very different and unique. It's definitely a stylistic choice, but my eye had a hard time following it naturally, which is weird because it was still left to right but I dunno. Could also be because it's the point of the night where I'm getting kind of tired.
I do agree with this sentiment, but I also think there's a time and a place to pick a fight. That and there's some value to picking your fights wisely. It can be so easy to just want to go off on someone every time you see wrong happening in the world, but that's not always the best way to handle a situation either. There are some times, on the other hand, when standing by is absolutely making yourself complicit. It's definitely a hard balance to strike.
Having been the person on the other end before where people stood up for me even when they didn't have to, I can say it does mean a lot to have someone do that. It's certainly not the easy choice, but it can be incredibly impactful.
Just some of my thoughts.

[apennylate]

I see we share the same opinions on gate-keeping in general, I took a peak at the writing you have presented on your profile.

Normally I would be the first to say disjointed editing jars the reader out of an otherwise smooth transference of thought between author and imbiber.
It is the lengths of the lines I used, even left to right, they have too much overlap to be concise.
In this, however, a step of purpose was taken.

Not for style points, but because of my own somewhat jaded opinions.
Life, especially the hard balances we get caught in making, can be a myriad of disinformation and shifting sands of perspective and bias.

The hard fought, the barely won, the time wasted on what was thought to be pure, now rots in its own egotistical undermining's .
I am never sure of what is and is not worth it, I would probably be inclined to say it is NOT worth it to swat at a fly.

If the general consensus, however, be that the fly should be left to its own devices because it causes too much of a tizzy to try to get rid of it.
Then the fly keeps flying, picks up more diseases, causes more harm each time it lands uncontested on yet another person's things.

It is a fly, not worth debasing myself in front of my peers to swat at, and subsequently be required to justify my time spent looking silly in the pointless endeavor.

But if no one swats the fly, and it continues to be a fly, and it continues to roll in feces and mud. It brings it inside, spreads it where you eat, sleep The very places you spend cherished time with loved ones.

A simple fly can do a great deal of harm, left undone.

Yet a great deal of harm can be done chasing it around the house with a shoe knocking over lamps and breaking toes in the process...

A hard balance, indeed, my friend.
When making the decision, ask yourself...
How did it feel when someone took the time to help YOU?

Maybe guide your hero to a less conflicting ending, maybe convince both the hero and the antagonist to be friends in the end.
Who knows, but what I do know, is that you have made a very thoughtful and polite comment.
For that, I think the merits of presenting my work neatly, outweigh the hubris of my ego...
Thanks, and I will fix the editing