rough beast

.. what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

   W.B. Yeats
   The Second Coming, 1919

humans are nurtured
in the comfort of their mother’s womb
& raised in the delight
of a community

yet some
denounce their birth,
hate their parents, country,
brothers & sisters

though life is love––
& love makes humanity
possible

in our days
of brewing civil war
so many hate their country
& fear humanity

they have lost their minds
& hearts––
they are preparing to kill & maim––

they are ready
to fight to die for the liberty
to die
& to sacrifice their loved ones
for liberty––

maybe they haven’t thought this through––
“theirs is not to reason why”

who would willingly
charge into the inferno
to join the corps
of demons?

who would hurl down
their family bible &
trample their constitution
for a bumper-sticker campaign slogan
shouting from a tee-shirt
or a hat
masquerading as their flag?

Dostoyevsky wrote, “if God is dead,
then everything is permissible.”
when reason is dead
society explodes

the rough beast
of Bethlehem
is growling
in amerika

madness reigns

who will rise-up
to save democracy?

civil wars
are disastrously
destructive,
mindless &
unnecessary––

the trumpwar is come
with cursing, rage
& insurrection

people will be crushed
& shot & bleeding
in broad daylight
under an angry sky––
for a lie

without a hope
without a question
without a god

just rage