There are vast worlds between you and I

Oceans of ideology to separate our individual hearts

I stand on my side of this wretched trench

This cavernous void

This seemingly infinite divide

And You? You stand on yours.

–

Our feet respectively entrenched in polarized perspectives

I gaze at your silhouetted shadow in the distance

You gaze at mine

We are so very different, it would seem

And thus to arms!

For tolerance is a one way street

When there is no truth but your own

And if peace is to be had, it will be at a needlessly bloody price

In this pathetic war we seemed doomed to repeat

–

The trebuchets of dogma

The catapults of vitriolic disdain

The cannons of fear

The artillery of belittling words and complex ideas

All locked and loaded – all aimed into the listless void

With these tools we shall each bridge this desolate gap

With fire and death

A regular battery of hate

An arsenal of juvenile stubbornness

To target our seemingly faceless foe

–

The gap provides convenient distance

For none can see a shadow weeping

No one can see the wounds that mark their opponents deeply

After relentless and spiteful assault

It is less difficult to sleep when your enemy has no eyes

A conscience can be tricked when the foe has not a face

After all, It is easier to war with a stranger

Than to heal the wounds of a friend.

 

~j.d.schofield