"Sure Atlas Shrugged..." - A Poem from Nearly 20 Years Ago

(Atlas from the Royal Palace in Amsterdam)

I wrote a lot of poetry back during my undergrad days, but once I found that I enjoyed doing fiction more, I never picked it back up (despite filling a huge notebook with well-transcribed versions along with accompanying images). Since Steemit seems to have a thriving (and growing) poetry community, I thought I'd add a little fuel to that particular fire. I hope you enjoy :)

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"Sure Atlas Shrugged, But What Were the Consequences?"

When Atlas shrugged,
Sympathy went out the door
Kicking the dirt of its soles
And letting it fly to every which way but us.
We seem to have lost that small part of ourselves
That show compassion to someone who needs it
More than we do.

When Atlas shrugged,
Apathy put its foot in the door
And Atlas showed us the gesture that
We've taken on as our own;
"Fuck it. I don't give a shit anymore,"
He seems to say, letting us roll down his back
To connect with his heel, landing us in the gutter,
Eventually leading us to our own deconstruction.

But we just shrug our shoulders and keep on
Moving on, kicking the dirt from our souls.
Or at least so we think, when in all actuality,
It keeps piling on, caking over what little humanity
We had left.

And when we've had too much,
The dirt inside us shrugs its shoulders and says,
"Fuck it. You never gave a shit before."

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Previous Poetry Posts:

"Arizona" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/arizona-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"Lasso the Moon, George Bailey" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/lasso-the-moon-george-bailey-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"Sphinx Song" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/sphinx-song-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago
"Purgatory's Visiting Hours" - https://steemit.com/poetry/@bucho/purgatory-s-visiting-hours-a-poem-from-nearly-20-years-ago