Originally submitted on 4/9/10 and
day by day new horrors inundate
our minds and overload our
senses.
Today’s Horror
By Mark Lichterman
Is there a mental deficiency
within the circuitry my brain?
I know I should feel absolute pain
in the suffering of others,
that I should feel absolute pain
in the pain of others.
And yes,
I do!
However,
the horrors that assail us daily,
that deluge our senses
with untold pain
with untold cruelty
with untold lack of reason.
Awakening, what will today bring?
Awakening,
first conscious thought may well be:
What is the horror this day will bring?
A bomb throwing terrorist
blowing a government building
to smithereens killing hundreds?
Planes once again flying into buildings
killing thousands?
A hurricane blowing the ocean into a city
killing and displacing hundreds of thousands?
A tsunami washing cities away
killing and displacing hundreds of thousands?
An earthquake destroying a country
killing and displacing hundreds of thousands?
A coal mine collapsing
trapping and smothering dozens?
A lunatic mother drowning her children?
A lunatic father killing his children?
A rampaging lunatic killing all within sight?
A fetus torn from the ripped stomach of an expectant mother?
What is the horror of this day?
What is the daily horror this day will bring,
...the daily horror tomorrow will bring?
I know I should feel absolute pain
in the suffering of others,
that I should feel absolute pain
in the pain of others,
and I do...
yet...
In a strange way I feel detached.
In a strange way I feel my mind
overloaded with the new horror
that assails me daily,
that deluge my senses
that,
in a strange way
leaves me feeling detached
and not as sympathetic
as I know I should feel
leaving me to ask,
am I mentally deficient?
Is there a mental deficiency
within the circuitry of my brain?
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We all get used to hearing all of this bad news happening to a very few of the nearly 8 billion people populating the earth. So it tends to become a normal occurrence until it happens to us. You are not mentally defective or complacent. You just have a positive outlook like I wrote about in my poem, Falling Sky.
Ron
The News, and social media, we would go crazy…
These last few weeks, living in UK has been very scary…uncertain, Ukraine
only three hours fly time away…Frightened at the unfolding events that affect the people
of Ukraine, but also could involve the World …
We tend to consider the things more seriously
the closer they are to us…in distance and if they hold particular interest to us…
As a parent and Grandparent I particularly react to news about children being hurt…
Unbearable…As we get older, and can see the folly of man’s attempts to control so
many things, we can become world weary…and to protect our psyches we sometimes
become detached…just too much to handle…
I love your honesty in this poem Mark…
Entirely understandable…
All we need is Love…globally…
Best wishes, Diana…
It's quite difficult for me who has deep empathy for others to not feel anything that others are suffering.
I want to differentiate what is difference between countries at war and a World War? Does a World War involve every country around the globe, or does it involve only those countries who are at war with each other? It's hard to think when people say WWIII may be coming, but then I don't know which countries will go to war.
Sandie