Proud, apathetic, indignant:
The cycle of cultural violence.
First, proud:
Proud enough to justify double-standards.
Proudly justify for others
what is intolerable for you.
Then, apathetic:
Ignore, justify, even vilify
the writing on the wall.
Then, indignant:
Hate-filled at the horror, the “blowback”,
the defiance by those who insist on self-control.
Then regroup, and rally, and absolve,
above all, absolve.
Then return again to proud…
Seeking to reinvent the wheel
of greed and tyranny,
plotting to pause the pendulum,
hoping to halt the hate
seeking to sow but never reap
the anger, pride, and apathy;
but the cycle of cultural violence
will be continuing.
