Friday 11 December 2015

Darkness



There is a loss of self in peace,
a curious emptiness, a void to fill. 

Wounds too deep to lick crave blood to spill;
congeal on wounds to deep to heal,
a sorry comfort to an empty soul.  

A warrior ever roused,
he seeks solace in barbarity
striking terror to the moment,
the inglorious glorious moment.
And his bloodied hands slake his sordid soul
satiate his lust for blood,
bring completeness to that moment,
that inglorious glorious moment.

Anna :o[

Björn’s Tuesday prompt at dVerse is that of: War for peace – or just hard work?   He requested we use any form or trick to make us long for peace and not just hate war.  Although it is true I yearn for this world of ours to exist in a permanent state of peace, I cannot see it happening, ever, as mankind is as he is, is a predator, his prey being power and possessions.  There are some of us that walk softly on this Earth leaving our gentle footprints and oh so many others who churn up this Earth in unimaginable savagery and greed.

War is the hallmark of our history since the very beginning, the very beginning when we dragged ourselves from the primordial soup, and so it continues.  Look around our world today, the barbarity that exists within it and how we seek (to some degree) to ignore it; let it be some others problem as we hang on to the tiny space we have defined as ours.   Please read this article on War and Peace in which it notes that there have been some 250 major wars since the end of WW2.  

On the same Tuesday night I viewed Meet the Psychopaths, part of which detailed the work of American psychiatrist  Hervey M. Cleckley in which he noted that some WW1 veterans had mental health problems that would not respond to treatment, and further checking showed these soldiers carried a history of poor conduct, that of antisocial behaviour.   Later work in a general hospital setting, he came across individuals who showed the same personality traits, the same disturbed behaviour he had seen in the soldiers earlier.     From his observations he came up with 21 traits that to him, defined the label of psychopath and in 1941 his book The Mask of Sanity was published which brought the term psychopath into popular use. 

Estimate prevalence of psychopathy is that of 1 in 100-150 of us and we are what we are.  Of course not all psychopaths are of the axe-wielding variety, but look around our world today and you will recognise those who probably are, recognise them by their absolute barbarity and the pleasure and power they achieve from it.   

And so it is that evolution has little lifted us little from our primitive mindset and we will continue to battle until we wipe ourselves out.  Sad, but I think true.

I think it important to state that despite the misery above, I am a very happy optimistic soul, this state being due to the ability to dampen and maybe hide the realist in me.  Peace!

Shared with the good folk at dVerse OLN                 

Image: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Author:  Kabir Bakie

12 comments:

brudberg said...

What a dark outlook, but I think I resonate with your thought... the lack of self in peace, maybe we need to feed the predator to fill that void... (maybe that's why we have football)...
Great Write Anna, and thanks for the entry to that prompt.

Mary said...

Yes, the poem shows the dark side of 'peace, but we can hope that there will eventually be some progress in finding a more peaceful world.

Jenny Woolf said...


A very good poem, Anna. I am afraid I agree with you that human nature does not change. Still, most places are peaceful most of the time. We can at least be thankful for that.

Grace said...

I think for some of us, going to war and being in a warrior mode is almost normal ~ I long for peace to come to us, someday ~

Hope you are well Anna ~

Bodhirose said...

This describes the emptiness of a soulless individual (whose passion for bloodshed in the name of his distorted beliefs) so clearly. Are we really going to let the minority of terrorists get the better of all humanity?!

Nice to see you here, Anna, thanks for joining in with dVerse.
Gayle ~

Rosaria Williams said...

That first line stopped me cold. I had never thought of that. How true! To achieve peace,the offended party has to become super-human and forget the injury, the pain, and offer a hand of reconciliation to his enemy, who may not offer a hand back...

la- rêverie said...

war and peace..... dark and light.

Marina Sofia said...

There are indeed some people who just cannot live with peace, who constantly crave... I'm not sure what: glory, greed, power, excitement?
I like your explanations - and the 'war' that optimism and realism have to wage inside you.

Anonymous said...

What is war? What is peace? Very strong, well-crafted poem, and beautiful photo --is it yours?

Katie Mia Frederick said...

A fascinating piece here for me..
but alas if a Bonobo can live
in peace with almost
zero aggression..
violence..
or
war
within
the tribe..
surely there
is hope now for
hairless humans..
problem is.. humans
are evolved for small
social groups.. naked
and sharing sex
freely and
raising
children
freely
as a village
and family of whole..
it is culture that is overall..
the sin.. of overpopulation.. written
language.. collective intelligence
culture and all the stuff that takes
humans away from their roots of
free love in sharing small
social groups..
so sure..
the apple
of Knowledge
that is written
language.. collective
intelligence and culture
for creature comforts
of ever expanding
population
is both
the fall
of
human
and fall of earth..
so sure.. this makes
pornography at least
one saving grace
back toward
free as
sexual
healing according
to a Bonobo it is the
best pill for Love
and peace yet..
but sure
healthy
consensual
sex.. as that
is how the
Bonobo
does it
to remain
free with
Love and
Peace.. so
the evil that
some people see
is actually the good..
that people can no longer
see.. but sure.. just ask
Godzilla.. there ain't no fooling
MOTHER NATURE IN EATING APPLES
OF HUMAN
HELL..
SEX MEANS
INCREASING
LEVELS OF
OXYTOCIN..
SOCIAL
BONDING
AND NO
MORE WARS..
SO KISS A BONOBO
ON ALL THE FREE LIPS..
the only other primate
that engages in face
to face kissing
and oral sex..
and the simple
reason for that
is they have
empathy
(they
can feel
the other
primate's
pleasure
with affective
empathy of
emotional
contagion..
per mirror
neurons
as well)
with
no known
reported
cases of psychopathy
but sure a little Autism
here and there.. for
Bonobos who
get
the odd
refrigerator
Bonobo parents..
CULTURE IS THE VIRUS
NOT INNATE HUMANITY..
AND IF this is too long
feel free to delete of
course.. but you
seem like
an intelligent
person who
is not blinded
by ignorance..
so i share
this with
you..
who truly
are few here..
i would even
attempt to share
this with.. as it's
a hard trip back
to real Truth
and Light
of
human
being..
BEFORE THE
APPLE OF
CULTURAL LIES..:)

Brother Ollie said...

The poem is great, but your prose is scary. I've met and even taught of few of these "special" people.

do my homework for me said...

beautiful poem. I really like that. You're a talented person.