I.
fight the hurt in place of complacency
says my mind, but who in their right mind
lets it get that far in the first place.

this world is a war. between
between rags and riches
between activity and listlessness
between one man's right and another man's right.
between points of view.

as many as there are colors in the spectrum
and just as closly bred
yet such hatred and bigotry between.
how many die for ideas?
breathe. there's one.
and a second before you exhale.
and we're fighting cancer as if it's going to save
the whole world.
fighting drugs as if they cause the addiction.
is humanity so vain to believe that we can destroy a planet
when a mere hiccough in the atmosphere disrupts an entire nation?

and like ants we rebuild, build,and build, and build
to comfort ourselves in between disasters.
between footfalls of god.

II.
fight each other, in the name of god and nation and
prejudice, as if we're just learning for the first time
that war doesn't make us right,
merely more powerful.

this life is pain. the pain
...of ignorance.
...of jealousy.
...of power.
...the pain of greed.

where are the limits, if there are any at all?
and when they are enforced, how can those that
create them be the ones to enforce against transgression?

and who really needs three hundred thousand dollars a year
when the pawns-like, serial numbered soldiers scrape to make ends meet
fighting the fight that they don't want to fight but do anyways,
because a politician told them they had to.

what do you know of war
when the only blood you get on your hands
are from papercuts?
god and country are excuses that last only a short time.
an IED later it becomes survival of you and those closest
and fuck everyone else, because they all look
like the enemy, and the enemies look like innocents
and they all look like a nation that's existed a millenia
without our help.

but there are no limits to generosity.
especially when it's not your time or effort
or blood that's been volunteered.

III.
Fight your brother in place of adversity,
and blame the rest of the world for the reasons.
Now WE are the war. the war of our
idiosyncrasies - our personalities -
and everything that is between us.
this air
this space
this fear
that's cutting like blades into my sanity
and making my hands wrap around your neck in my dreams.
this fight between common goals
leads us backward, where the sand is overcoming
and the air is rapidly running out.

10/22/2006

Posted on 10/22/2006
Copyright © 2024 Aaron Michael