Our Need To Conquer Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

It is not the increase,
Of tragedies released upon others.
And ourselves.
That has us stunned and numbed,
To witness in horrific disbelief.
Continuing to have more grieving.
Although it seems,
Familiar are these 'events' becoming.
Occurring to disrupt and destroy lives,
Too frequently as if permitted.
Or self-inflicted to welcome.

It is our infatuation inflated,
On a daily basis...
That has yet to decrease,
Our need to conquer over enemies.
Enemies we seek to create.
With expectations we can prove,
Values and standards initiated by hate...
Defines greatness.
A greatness we cheer with each enemy,
We depict to remove.

This greatness betrays,
A portrayal that slips away.
To repeatedly deceive it.
And ourselves left rejecting a kept respect.
While replacing to redefine,
That greatness sought to keep believed.
As we seek a decadent way of life achieved.
Enforced by an intolerance for peace.
A peace interpreted as being weak.
A love wished to express,
Has some wanting to defeat it.

And yet kept we do,
Less time to review and self-examine...
The rise of crimes of all kinds to find,
Reasons to ignore and excuse...
An ongoing and accepted craze.
Prioritized and marketed to our youth.
Youth abusing their minds to amuse,
On delusions and confusion.

As we welcome a darkened abyss.
That deepens...
To believe a bright future develops from this...
Madness. A madness invented,
To think we can circumvent,
An epidemic of felt pain; sorrow.
And the spreading of regret.

This fabric of madness,
Does not represent a flag of greatness to wave.
This fabric of madness,
Will not soon fade or be erased.
The raising of it,
Is escalating.