we are afraid of the dark

we are the tragic and tender
children bound in adult boxes.

we are still afraid of the dark.

our triumphs are small
but they mean so much.

we have complex systems
to investigate other
complex systems.

we consume.

in our darkest hour,
we ask for forgiveness
for what we have done.
on our brightest days,
we laugh and play,
throwing caution to the wind.

we are afraid of the dark.

our compassion is limited
by our need.
our need is extinguished
by our want.

we hate crime,
but we are in love with poverty.
we are consumed with the rich,
but the rich hate our guts.

we fuck.

we are full of good intentions,
and there is no better philosophy
than our own.

our charity
is bound
by guilt.

we consume.

we are afraid of the dark.

we are governed by want.

we win.

we lose.

we die.

and in all of this,
we still wonder who we are.

we crave love
even if it is detrimental
to our health
and well being.

we make war
and blame it on the
holy teachings
of dead philosophers.

we make war
and blame it on the
need for freedom.

we make war
and blame it on
l i b e r a t i o n .

we celebrate
the day of our birth
every year
as if it will bring
something new
this time around.

we laugh
and we play
while the freedom
we fought for
is taken away.

we build shit
only to tear it down
to build new shit
to tear down sometime
in the future.

we mock who we were
in the past
only to watch history
repeat itself.

we endanger
the very essence of nature
to establish laws
that guard against
endangering nature.

we kill.

we give birth.

we denounce who we are
to become
who we were.

and in all of this
we still wonder who we are.

we like buttery, rich, sweet
statements to cover up the taste
of the atrocities
we have committed.

we blame it on
the greater good.

we are in love with
d i s t r a c t i o n .

we are afraid of
the darkness unfolding
before our very eyes,
wiping away the light
in thin trails
until oblivion takes us
kicking and screaming
into the void
of our own consumption.

there is no need
to wonder
who we are.