National Poetry Month, v. 7.0, Day 25

I have noticed a trend lately, on social media - in the guise of "being positive" there are a lot of "lists" out there:  "Ten signs you have a blocked colon"  "18 ways to unblock your colon"  "12 signs you need to work on you"  "38 reasons it's not you, it's the rest of the world"  and it goes on and on.  The problem I have with these is not that they aren't TRYING to do something positive, it's that what they are really doing is focusing the energy of the individual inwardly, and making us - as a culture - more egocentric.  Personally, I think it's a trend we should be a little more aware of, if only to keep us focused on the only thing that always has held true:  We need to focus more on caring for one another.  When humanity does this, we prosper.  It has always been true, and it likely always will be.  Anyway, this is my take on all of these lists - and yes, the last stanza is just a little jarring - the rhythm changes enough to mess with you.  On purpose.

Thanks for reading,

Me

lists

five things to never do...
eight traits to know if you're...
three ways to get to...
sixteen methods to be sure...

if he does these dozen...
when she acts like this...
nineteen things you never knew about...
ten different ways to kiss...

it's wearying and harrowing,
it's worrying and maddening,
it's listing all the little things
that really aren't mattering.

all designed to make us put the blame
on others for our troubles,
all designed to make us feel better 
about all our faults and foibles.

and in the end,
we feel worse because,
we are not treating others
with tenderness and love.