Hovering Malice

From where such comes?

Paths of growth,
molecule by molecule,
osmosis bringing some,
birth bringing many.

All perform their purpose.
The leaf.
The berry.
The evolved creature,
man.

Yet…

Unknown to most,
forces concealed
by nature,
by technology,
by deceit,
tempt the dangerous walk upon life’s ice,

too thin to trust.

Nature warns us,
as technology but implores us,
all while gluttony takes aim,
ignoring any and all boundaries.

Like a flame unquenched,
envy and desire find oxygen
amidst our unbridled drive.

Once of love's caress,
now but duplicitous habit,
learned fear feasts upon the screams
contained within.

If I can't find peace,
you can't either.

Grown up children trapped
by fantasy-imbued expectations,
clothes,
nips,
tucks,
lifts,
implants,
Botoxification.

And, lest we forget,
Platinum cards.

Ah,
such acidic veneers,
so crafty,
with clever disguises
for the less than perfect incisors,
hidden by practiced thin lips of cunning,
now gone greed-generated kiss-kiss

.

Mind and body enhancements,

all to satiate visceral fears and appetites,
regardless of cost.

And if reality takes its time,
there's always the awaiting tabloid-White House-mentality
to feed upon.

How tempting,
these press-briefing’s four-color peepshows
promoting “All is well”,
obviating government’s weaknesses and mistakes,
venality’s disguise
awaiting the pathetic of our species

To drink such Kool-Aid.

And yet...

Some of us choose to believe
breath remains in abundance
to think,
to do,
to be something beyond this charade of virtue,
something akin to the beginning,
when life was Nature's innocent gift,
and a baby's need was to grow up rejoicing,
not regretting.

Yet distinct from a still healthy buying power,
or yellow reds and blues in a bottle for those less fortunate,
the “all is well” poisonous infliction on one's mind
remains as an open wound
where malice hides,
waits,
gently revs its engine,
then creeps,
until
while sentience sleeps,
and vulnerability lies naked,
opportunity leaps,

answering why malice hovers in shadows.