By David Cooper

A wound that time cannot heal,

Leaving a chasm in what was known.

Too murky to be understood,

Too complex for logic to fathom.

Some things seem to help explain.

A history of assigning blame

To the powerless accused of

Conspiring to destroy all that was good.

Familiar newsreels

Impassioned propaganda

True believers marching in step.

Silent people

Not comfortable with making waves,

Fearfully awaiting their orders

There was hunger. Yes, there was loss.

There was the failure of markets,

A refined culture of shattered egos

We have these facts and more

Meant to explain

Yet nothing brings to clarity

What evil hides waiting in the human heart

What impulse lurks

Silent beneath the mask of civilization

And what of human progress?

What has changed?

Are we now less inclined to savagery?

Are we now participating in annihilation?

Are we now too preoccupied to care?

Time moves on,

A brutal struggle for power continues.

There will always be a possibility of genocide.

There will always be an opportunity to take a stand.