Who Follows Who?

I have long kept watch
on those who appear to act
as if they are in actual power.

The longer I watched
the more I wondered
at was the nature of the force
that kept them there?

Now I think I know
-the leader speak the lines
written for them by the popular press
-well behind the scenes,
The press then amplify
what the leader has said,
as though the leader
wrote their own lines
when many folk can guess
that they didn't,

For as long as consumers pay
for this back room spin operation
because they buy the products
that support the newspapers,
through advertising, then democracy
will continue the be engineered.

Punch/Pull

I am struck by the difference
between 'punching above your weight'
and 'pulling more than your own weight'.
Each has their own force of gravity.

In the former the projected aggression
blinds people to their own weaknesses
until they receive such a level of force
back at them that only their honesty
about how weak they now are
can renew their strength of character.

In the latter we give, and give more
than we feel that we have in store,
within us. But for having given
we are open to receive in return.
Gratitude, both spoken and undeclared,
are the means by which we are replenished.