CONSUMER AFFAIRS BULLETIN
Volume 1, No. 1 Winter 1996

Poetry

THERE IS A BETTER WAY
by Frank H. Maurer

RAGE IS THE NAME OF MY SADNESS
SIMMERING, ERUPTING LIKE BULLFROGS RUNNING
KNOWING PAIN BLINDS MY VIEW
OF THOSE WHO HIDE
BEHIND PAPERS, COMPUTERS AND SMILES.

BECAUSE AMERICA LIMPS AT NIGHT
DESPITE THE DAY OF COURAGE, BATTLING LIPS AND MONEY
WHAT SALVE TRANSFORMS POVERTY?
AND MENTAL ILLNESS SHATTERS SOULS
WHILE THE MASSES MINGLE, MAKING MORE MAD.

PONDEROUS BY THE MILLIONS AN IRRATIONAL SOCIETY LEANS;
BENDS THE HUMAN SPIRIT
WHICH BREAKS IN THE EXODUS
LIFE AS WE KNEW/HEARD/WISHED
IS BUT A BLANK WALL FOR MANY.

BUT NOW I ADORN THE STAGE OF CHANGE
HOPING, HELPING THE HURTING AND HAUNTED
WITH VISIONS OF SURENESS AND NAIVETE
TO NURTURE MY FEET.

"STOP!" I SAY
THE ALCOHOL THAT POWS OUT LIFELESS BABIES
THE BRUTALITY OF THE WEAK AND MEEK
AND THE WONT DESTRUCTION OF EGOS.

CHANGE THE LAWS ENCOURAGING PAIN WITHOUT GROWTH
AND MAKE AMENDS TO YOUR CREATOR
FOR HIS SHAME WARPS HIM, TOO.

IT IS FAR, FAR BETTER TO BE THE MAN OR WOMAN
WHO STANDS TALL THAN THE MORON OR COWARD
WHO BEATS THEM DOWN.

(Frank Maurer is a poet and mental health advocate from Phoenix, Arizona)

Consumer Affairs Bulletin
Volume 1, No. 1 Winter 1996