They come from
A dark place where
No light is allowed in.
Don’t talk back,
Your voice doesn’t
Matter here.
Follow the rules
And you won’t
Get hurt.
It’s not that
They can’t help people,
It’s just that
They choose not to.
Inhumanity
Is simply the
Inability to
Move past fear.
We all do better
When we look out
For each other,
Courageously.
There’s a long pause
Followed by a few
Tentative attempts to
Get the conversation
Started, trying to scale
A wall erected by fear.
Devoid of knowledge and
Experience, they wobble
Down an unexplored path,
Each hesitant to take
Another step, a precipice
At every turn.
It ends before it begins,
Where it’s always been,
Laying dormant and untended,
The disease never treated,
Ignored as much as
Important things can be.
There are things that
Need to be finished
And yet aren’t.
Matters left for
Another time
That never arrives.
Regrets stuffed
Deeper down, to
Resurface another day.
The most eloquent
Argument, based on
Critical thinking,
Empirical evidence,
Objective reality,
Reason,
Is no match for his
Emotionally-driven
(Fear-motivated to be specific)
Vituperations on pretty much
Any topic he decides
To inflexibly defend.
She was one of
The few who
Dared to follow
Her dreams,
Leaving herself
Vulnerable to
Being judged by
People who never
Had the courage to
Be themselves.
Brutalized by someone
They trusted,
Living adult lives of
Overt fear and anger,
Lashing out at
Imagined adversaries,
Pretending to be strong,
Whimpering inside,
Devotedly following the
First tyrant that
Comes their way.
A dismal death cult
Unmoved by evidence,
Driven by self-hate and
Fear of the other,
Supporting oppression to
Maintain their hold on power.
Nothing grows in
This barren environment,
Only devastation.
If only I could
Reassure them that
They will be okay,
That they don’t have to
Be scared of everything,
That no one is going to
Come and hurt them,
But I can’t,
Only they can
Deliver that message.
