. home . prose . poetry . art . comics . LEGO . store . facebook . twitter .

. lemming drops studio . . content © robert e g black . writer . artist . teacher . coach . ideologue .

triage

from bombings in boston to drone strikes in pakistan
from gunshots on city streets to heartache where your home is
all levels of pain are one and the same
when you take it personally

is it the human condition to cause hurt
to inflict damage
to lie, hit, puncture and explode?

is it the human condition to feign ignorance in that condition
to pretend we are not all each responsible for every ounce of agony and hurt and bloodshed
whether internal and personal, loneliness from a broken heart
or external and political, blood lost from a broken body?

it is all violence

is it the human condition to protect ourselves only by hurting others
to lash out from underneath our shells?

is it the human condition to turn a blind eye to starvation, exploitation, enslavement, and death
to ignore the crying eye, the dying child
inherited wounds passed down from father to son, father to son, father to son, father to son, father to son, father to son
a culture bent on its own destruction because our televised distractions are just more of the same
more heartache and pain
more blood shed by others
real or on a flatscreen
far from this human condition we find so damn comfortable
even when we are squirming in our seats
cowering behind spread fingers
peeking out at the carnage all around?

what do we do when it is all the same?
what do we take away when all is pain?
who do we comfort when we all hurt?
who do we bandage when all are bleeding?
who do we grab tight and hold close to fight off all the anguish and blood and the beating of this human heart
the beating of this human—
—conditioned response to all we cannot handle?

so we turn away
we hold the pain up inside ourselves
we hole up inside ourselves...
alone

and we change the channel

regb
4-20-13