What We Need Poem by Daniel Brick
What We Need
The killer armed with the deadliest of guns
finds his victim cowering against a bend
in the wall which provides no shelter. They
appear to be the same age, at some past moment
may have had the same male dreams for their future.
At this moment one will deprive the other of both
dreams and future... What if the prized gun
malfunctions and doesn't fire? The prospective killer
and his prospective victim look into each other's
eyes, and drop deep into the other's psyche. The killer
feels the sear of pain which rushes through his target.
And his mind is deluged by lacerating regret - his life
has been severed, cut short, the final second of living
is an immense cry of anguish. Oh, how he wishes the gun
had discharged and demolished the man, and released
him from such awareness... The victim sees a seething
man overwhelmed with anger, and knows his grim eyes
see past him into a mass of men just like him, all
prospective victims. They are all the enemy because
they are privileged, prosperous, undeserving. Oh, how
readily he would surrender his store of privilege
to have his term of life restored... What happens
after these instant thoughts? Does the killer fix his gun,
or does the gun fix itself, and blast the other?
Or does the victim attack his killer, and in a paroxysm
of fear and rage beat him senseless? Or in the stress
of the moment do both men collapse, hit the ground hard,
and lie moaning, both disarmed and helpless, the indifferent
gun lying between them? And there they lie in an accidental
peace, both alive, neither one the victim of the other...
What we need is something to stall the violence - permanently.
the indifferent gun lying between them? - - - -Gun is indifferent about who uses it, for what purpose it is used and upon whom it is targeted.The cause of violence lies in the psyche of the person who feels that he is victimized, he has been deprived of his due share, he might be reacting to social injustice and targeting an innocent victim to vent his ire.What crosses his mind when he is going to kill.It might at times happen that he feels remorseful and decide to discard his weapon. - - - - - - - - - - - - - What we need is something to stall the violence. A profound write which looks into the problem of terror from a psychological point of view.
Bharati, thanks for your comment. It is in harmony with others on this page. We are surely a unified gathering of people and poets, united for both justice and non-violence. Our numbers are growing!
Cain and Abel over and over again. The first time that blood was spilled on earth was just the first in an overwhelming eternity of numbers and no nation has been able to curb that desire in man to destroy another life. Kill in rage, kill in indifference- -it really doesn't matter when by the selfish act of one person another person's journey has ended and all those who loved him has had their journey altered and all those who would have met him and interacted with him have unknowingly had their life changed by the act of one disastrous person. Ripples. We can only see if we can create love ripples that might cause equal and powerful changes for the good. A challenging and deeply philosophical look at violence, Daniel. Your poems are often the creators of these good ripples.10 of course!
What a profound and thorough response to the issues of my poem. Your prose comment makes the largest possible statement of why we should rejoice to be our brother's keeper, and widen that sense in a circle whose diameter will never collapse and grow small but keep expanding to embrace more people. I love your phrase IF WE CAN CREATE LOVE RIPPLES....
Kill or be killed. If only that philosophy was eradicated from the face of the earth. And replaced with: Kill with love or be killed with love. In which both the killer and victim are bombarded with flashes of love's greatest moments. Daniel, your poem is profound and deeply philosophical. A message of non-violence presented in an entertaining and thought-provoking manner. Excellent write!
Richard, this is the idealism I believe in too. FLASHES OF LOVE'S GREATEST MOMENTS - wonderful phrase! Idealism, Love - these are our core values, which we must hope will prevail over violence.
A thought-provoking write. A great message of non-violence illustrated through a scene where the killer and victim are face to face. Those critical moments of their lives are presented with great depth, sensitivity and psychological understanding. Indeed, we need a violence-free world. It's disturbing to see men killing men. A 10.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/4/2024 2:17:50 PM # 1.0.0.1119
In a perfect world, yes this would be a great answer to ending violence. As you know though, our world is far from perfect. It's possible we need more awareness about the domino effect of killing someone. We have so many action and gang movies that make it look like there are no consequences after the bullet is released. There needs to be more awareness about what it does not only to friends and family of the victim but to the killer himself. The kind of regret that comes after killing someone isn't something they can just repent away; it'll hang over them for the rest of their life knowing they put an end to someone's bright future. Until that kind of awareness is spread there'll be no end to it. Anyhow, this was very thought provoking; in fact it would be great to have this poem converted into a video for a campaign against violence - just an idea!