What turns a man to hate
and wither gentle feelings long forgot?
Does he hold within him
seeds of evil
germinated by weathering storms
of poverty,
oppression,
hate?
What turns the smiling boy
into a man of
blood and bombs,
that incendiary malice
fanning the fires
of infected hearts?
Do fiendish thoughts
and actions
lie in wait
to trap the disillusioned
trapped?
When did hungry tears
turn to course down
pain weathered cheeks
and drip on malice ridden
words?
What might have stemmed
the bitter tide,
and would we
have built the dam?
and wither gentle feelings long forgot?
Does he hold within him
seeds of evil
germinated by weathering storms
of poverty,
oppression,
hate?
What turns the smiling boy
into a man of
blood and bombs,
that incendiary malice
fanning the fires
of infected hearts?
Do fiendish thoughts
and actions
lie in wait
to trap the disillusioned
trapped?
When did hungry tears
turn to course down
pain weathered cheeks
and drip on malice ridden
words?
What might have stemmed
the bitter tide,
and would we
have built the dam?
©Eleanor Clark
2 May 2011
2 May 2011
I wrote this as I was thinking about Osama Bin Laden’s death. What turns a boy into a man bent on the destruction of other human beings? I fear the answer is so complex that no one will ever try to find out why, and in so doing fail to stop more terrorists from springing up.
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