A very apt analogy. One of your very best prosetry offerings that I've read.

There is a creeping paranoia that stems from the increasingly complex lives that we lead, so dependent upon huge, uncaring corporations who only think in terms of short-term profits and have teams of lawyers to put down every threat to their takeover of other corporations, lands and organizations favoring their products. Underlying, there seems to be the fear of Big Brother controlling lives in the form of Big Government and a need to return to simpler lifestyles remembered from youth when everything appeared to be better than it really was. God seems to be favored over other controlling factors like regulations and laws that go against "moral" principles.

What you are describing in the poem was facing fear with force: The junkyard dog syndrome. As we become more paranoid, we put up walls to protect "our territory." These walls may be real walls or psychological ones. When we begin to think that the only way to solve our problems is through physical revolution, the show of force, and actual force like attacking a hungry person climbing over the wall to steal a loaf of bread by blowing their head off, we have defeated all that democracy and civilization has afforded us. Things like cooperation, helpfulness, understanding and empathy.

Instead, we use the Bible and other convoluted stories to predict the "end of times," unless we immediately rise up, take up arms, and defeat the evil all around us by force because we simply fear. But really, the only fear we have is to, "fear, fear itself." FDR

Ron

Immensely chilling! Agree with Ron that “Darkness became the light” was the ringer for me. More like ‘siren,’ and rightly so. This contains an element of tenderness right there with the spike collar and the razor wire. So cutting is the “trained to hate/mostly self”. So much jumps out of here….”soft matter” “perpetual holiday glow” (a flawless depiction of the spirit of a dog), “synaptic connections frayed” the blood stream contamination pointing to the sepsis of a whole species. Dinner scraps for the next generation is the concept that haunts me the most. Remarkable way to put that. Amazing effect, this one — the that’s-how-I-feel-too kind of effect. ~~ djl

as Blake stated,"I do not consider the just and the wicked of supreme states for they are all just states." States we all go in that we can all easily fall into and make our soul's abode. but, i guess the biggest lesson would be, to navigate freely through these states of consciousness until we reach the concept of the self that we have long worked for. great piece, Odin. you always have deep introspections that are certainly most intriguing to take a peak into. thank you.

"Darkness became the light,' now that just about sums it up in a nutshell. You light up your poem with questions that only the future can answer. And I am afraid what those answers might be. It's the way of the world now it seems.