Our Credibility hinges on the use
Of swift and massive Lethal Force²
All over the world, everybody Strikes
At the Enemy – and the Pain Escalates³
In the wake of Impossible Violence, our
Language Fails us, and Speech becomes
A kind of Babbling outside of the known⁴
Craving a Violent Awe – Numb to all else⁵
A Natural, Healthy channeling of Aggressive
Instincts – into acts of Senseless Violence⁶
As if the only Choice we have left is how
To Die – and we want to Die in a Fight⁷
Wherever you find Knots of men you
Will find the Charisma of Violence⁸
The most Painful part of Beatings
Are the Insults which they Imply⁹
Violence leaves a Mark on the
Face that the eye cannot miss¹⁰
¹ Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sounds
² Drew Swinger, Sonnet for Brett Foster
³ Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart
⁴ Chase Berggrun, Mostly His Apocalyptic Star Glitters Wondrously
⁵ Denise Levertov, Airshow Practice
⁶ Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
⁷ Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
⁸ C.D. Wright, Count Your Notches
⁹ Viktor E. Frankl tr. Ilse Lasch, Man’s Search for Meaning
¹⁰ Tayeb Salih tr. Denys Johnson-Davies, Seasons of Migration to the North