when will we
be forced to
excise civil
from civilization
where we finally
acknowledge it
holds no meaning
to describe
the ferocity of
humankind

the news is
nothing but a
paid advertisement
for whichever
fallacy you
choose to subscribe
an echo chamber
bloviating
in an endless cycle
reminding you
the other side
doesn’t think like you
doesn’t believe like you
isn’t the same
as you

they incite riots
to deflect the class war
keep the sheep
angry at the sheepdog
so they never feel
the shepherd’s blade
never comprehending
the sheep and sheepdog
are just servants
to the gluttonous master

there has never been
a time of peace
where one tribe
wasn’t actively trying
to eradicate another
yet we pompously
wave fat fingers at
the smoldering horizon
amd call it civilized
as if the starving children
or the limbless veterans
are obstructions
on the way back to eden

we are capable
of monumental beauty
yet it seems we
prefer a canvas
of horrific dismay
we are only civilized
in that we are
easy to control