how can I not say
that we are horrible creatures
after all the damage we’ve done
and continue to do
how can I love myself
and my wife
and my friends
and not know
we are part of that
that magnified
we have somehow
as an aggregate
as a state
as an economic system
imprisoned
punished
mutilated
killed
and wasted
countless human lives
how can I not say
. . . .