LET US CONTEND WITH THE VIOLENCE IN OUR MIDST
Let us be real about something
America was built by violence
That is a truth
From the barbarous savagery
of the chattel slavery
that built our economy
To the vicious brutality
and slaughter of natives human and animal
that captured us the continent
From the overcrowded inhuman tenements
where immigrants got their slippery foothold
so they could be free and innovate
To the unimaginable suffering
of the pioneers, soldiers, and workers
who made the country what it is
From the devastating shock
of political assassinations
that derail our political discourse
To the cold corruption
or our wealthy elites
who would starve the masses
From the cruel savagery
of legalized racism
that enables so much suffering
To the stark raving loneliness
of our technological age
that generates such abundance and such fear
From the twisted unfeelingness
of the debased morality
that justifies it all
To the quotidien sadism
of the gun culture
that we hold so dear
Let’s just take a moment
and breathe into it
and recognize who we are
Take a long hard look at the ghosts
around us
don’t be afraid
Not at the versions served up
in popular entertainment
where the dead are nameless and the blood doesn’t spurt
Nor at the gore porn that makes huge profit
by inflicting cartoonish cruelty
on attractive young actors for our viewing pleasure
But at the hard justification served up
by those who feel entitled to lash out
from their own fear and for their own profit
And inflict unimaginable anguish
on people just trying to live their lives
and are no threat to anyone
Look fearlessly with clear eyes
at the violence real and imagined
woven into nearly every institution in our weird nation
As a creative artist
a generator of joy
it frightens me as much as it does you
To ponder a world
where those who have made a fetish of violence
feel justified to use it to get what they think they want
We’ll all meet our maker someday
so don’t allow those who rejoice in our fear of death
to steal the power of our joy
hj 10.5.25