Levenson Psychopathy Test
no halos on these heads
just their undesirable traits.
cold charm —
the smile that sells you peace
while moving the knife
with their eyes closed.
born without fear —
they don’t flinch,
they don’t wake up sweating,
success is never looking back.
instrumental empathy —
they understand feelings
the way a locksmith understands doors.
surgeons their impulsivity —
where risk tastes like oxygen,
consequences are somebody else’s bill.
you meet them at the counter.
corporate executives
talking “efficiency”
to faces they won’t remember.
politicians
shaking hands,
forgetting names,
promising favors like coins.
lawyers
translating pain into strategy,
winning clean,
sleeping fine even after seeing
the most horrific
photographs during the course of
a trial.
police officers
calling it procedure
when innocence people are routinely
shot and self preservation
is the seed of dark lies.
emergency-room surgeons
steady hands, quiet hearts—
you want them that way
until you don’t
consequences are somebody else’s bill.
media hosts and influencers
preying on the endless white trash
manufacturing outrage,
selling certainty,
never bleeding, cherry picking.
the test doesn’t call them evil.
it calls them obtuse and effective.
and the public keeps showing up,
child like trust in hand,
learning to late
what their trust has cost them.
why are they not tested in advance,
saving lives and millions of dollars in advance?
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