Which Crack?

One in a series of poems about life in, relegated to
and ending up between the cracks.
***

there is a world
populated by the
smiling, laughing
strutting, lounging
throng
which is less
obscene and sinister
than it is
oblivious and self-absorbed
secluded in exclusive quarters

it would seem there is
no existence beyond
the glitter, the allure
heads held high
lips wrapped in petulant sneers
demanding favor –
the exceptionalism assuming caste
always ready to take
giving no thought to those
from whom they’ve borrowed

the living, breathing
tenacious oppressed
are found in places damned by
debilitating detriment
discarded without deliberation
neglected, negated
throughout decades of
deadening decisions
designed to keep order
in well-nigh invisible cracks

but, there is warmth
laughter and beauty
there are dreams and hopes
fanned into flame through
lyric and rhythm
petition and rhyme
reflecting the soul
of people whose
spirits soar, rumbling
with rugged, redemptive resolve

who defines a crack and
what makes it so?
is a luxurious crevice more enviable
than one of harsh scarcity?
who imprisons the fettered, and
whose predicament is superior –
that of the calloused creating the stratum
or those confined within them?
where does one find comfort
and is this solace or ease?

the human spirit
– mercifully bestowed upon
each sojourner –
will blossom or wither based
not on position, possession or prestige
not on which crack confines or
defines it, but on
its ability to lay down all devious
vertical categorizations
in favor of human embrace

© Julia Penner-Zook, 2017
Photo Credit: Mother Nature’s Ikebana via Pinterest