Human Violence
Is violence in our hearts? How could there not be?
They say revolution is necessary
when the people are not heard,
Yet who can hear themselves, or each other
above noisy needs and demanding desire?
Pitted against each other in arenas of complexity & nuance,
Our modern day gladiator rings, now unseen and within.
Better that we brandish swords and armor
within circles of display and containment…
Better perhaps we allow the beast to roar
with grit, grime, and presence?
This beast who within the present moment,
demands with innocence, claims without regard
and sees only with binary duality.
Mine.
Yours?
Who’s to say what’s yours or mine
if “we are all one?”
Is violence in our hearts?
How could there not be?
These primate bodies, reptilian brains,
overlaid with deep potential
for conscious thought and consideration.
Too often untethered, unaccounted, unacknowledged,
Our humanity blunt and sharp,
felt both wild and pointed, within and without.
Displayed in the moments through snarling teeth,
unspoken lies, hidden and and un-veiled truth,
aggression, and perfection.
A baby cries, demanding, to take and take and take.
A parent allows, succumbs, and takes from themselves.
Can we be more human than human?
How long do we let each other cry?
05/03/2022
