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Man May 2023
Civility for civilty's sake
Do you laugh to feel,
Work to wake?
Is there a person there real?
Or, are you too fake?
Francie Lynch Dec 2020
We deserve sounding boards of truth,
Not sponges of deception.

My head is full of lies, equivocations and beguiling stories.
Who can I trust?
The poor?
The limb-lost warrior?
Residents in Cell Block A through Z?
Patients found out but can't breathe.

We must be sound,
And let the voices of truth echo.
William A Poppen Sep 2020
Politics is broken
Something is missing

Politics is polarized
Opinions are divided
Clearly we are at extreme odds

Perhaps Vernon Jordan*
Had his finger on the pulse
Of this confounding
Movement years ago

The panel was distinguished
Vernon Jordan spoke  
“In Washington, there is no longer civility”

Elected officials representing opposing camps
Engage in animus and grudges
Without social civility

Without civility
There is no healing
Nor is there compromise
* Vernon Jordan was a close friend of former president Bill Clinton
Mark Toney Jan 2020
Our children see others lie with impunity
Simply blow out the light, darkness perverts civility


© 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.
1/4/2020 - Poetry form: Poulter's Measure Couplet - Couplets of 12 syllables alternating with 14 syllables, often used for serious statements. - Copyright © Mark Toney | Year Posted 2020
Carl D'Souza Jul 2019
Is civility
a good-willed politeness
to other people?

Is the benefit of being civil
to a person I disagree with
that I maintain
my joy and happiness
and the other person’s joy and happiness?
Carl D'Souza Jul 2019
Sharon posts a photo of her new baby
on social-media and
Nasty-Jim comments
“That’s an ugly baby!”
Sharon feels shocked, insulted, appalled.
She hugs her baby protectively,
feeling hurt.

Sharon posts a photo of her new baby
on social-media and
Civil-Sheryl comments
“Congratulations on your beautiful baby!”
Sharon feels joyful and happy.
She hugs her baby warmly
kisses him on the head
and says “I love you little one”.
Ira Desmond Nov 2018
The downward momentum is clear to me now.
The engine has built up a full head of steam.
I’d try to stop it, if I knew how.

The fires of industry must burn on somehow;
they tend to burn brightest when fuel is extreme.
The downward momentum is clear to me now.

When currents are surging, we shouldn’t allow
the jingoist fringe to swim in the mainstream.
I’d try to stop them, if I knew how.

Civility means more than I can avow,
but poems can only allude to a theme:
The downward momentum is clear to me now.

Each click of a mouse that shouts holier than thou
is a cog in a treacherous clockmaker’s scheme.
I’d try to stop him, if I knew how.

We worshipped the circuit and forsook the plow
in search of a false technological dream.
Our downward momentum is clear to me now.
I’d try to stop us, if I knew how.
A true test of a man's character
Is to see if he'll bother to stick around
When you impose no copulation before marriage
Many will shut the door
To never look back
Civility is something we often
Forget to possess
Some never choose to have it
Pauper of Prose Aug 2018
She said with much respect
The memories of us were like Marie Antoinette
I imagine she smothered their screams
Before leading them to the Guillotine
Guiltless and why shouldn't she be
She wants change, revolutionary
So long live her new Nation State!
And no, know, it doesn’t bother me
I’ll simply change my foreign policy
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