You looked down
and found a fool
Because fools
are easier
to condemn
You looked up
and found
a devil
Because devils
excuse the hands
that made them
But you never
looked straight
ahead
You were afraid
of recognizing
yourself
I was not
born from
darkness
I learned it
watching you
You taught me
which lives
mattered
Which bodies
could disappear
Which countries
could burn
As long as
the smoke
never reached
your neighborhood
You taught me
compassion
has borders
That suffering
becomes
entertainment
at sufficient
distance
And death
becomes statistics
when there are
enough bodies
Then
you returned
to dinner
You
called this
civilization
I called it
instruction
You
created a world
that rewards cruelty
Then acted
surprised
when someone
studied
the curriculum
You worship
violence
with clean hands
You purchase it
and watch it
You will
vote for it
and celebrate it
Then condemn
the bastard children
it produces
You asked
what happened
to humanity
As though
you were
somewhere else
when it disappeared
You
call me
paranoid
Perhaps
paranoia is merely
awareness
that refused
to look away
It is possible
the mad man
is only the man
who noticed
what everyone else
agreed to ignore
You needed
a monster
Something
ugly enough
to carry
what you
could not admit
about yourselves
So you
gave it
a face
And a name
with a cage
Congratulating
one another
when the door
slammed shut
Case closed
evil contained
our civilization
is innocent again
But you
misunderstood
the evidence
The cage
was never
mine
It belonged
to you
You
built walls
around
consciousness
and mistook them
for its boundaries
Inside the mind
there is no prison
There is only
the first darkness
before creation
The place
where thought
has not
yet decided
what it will
become
An opening
without
circumference
It’s a universe
beginning again
behind the eyes
So
look down
if it comforts you
Look up
if you need
something to fear
But eventually
you will have
to look
straight ahead
And
when you
do
Don’t ask
others
what made
the monster
Ask
the
reflection